Intending to pursue photography as a career, she was apprenticed to a fashion photographer in Helsinki for a year before studying photography in London in the 1960s, and co-founding the Amber Collective in Newcastle in 1969. From 1969 Konttinen lived in Byker, and for seven years photographed and interviewed the residents of this area of terraced houses until her own house was demolished. This work resulted in the book Byker. Konttinen’s next project was a study of girls attending dance schools in North Shields, their mothers, and the schools, resulting in the book Step-by-Step. The book was an influence for the film Billy Elliot. www.amber-online.com/collection/byker