…and here we are, here I am. 2024 and ongoing great city for culture, events, communities and friends. The city that is home and place to grow, stay and root yourself deep.
2024 has been a storm for me and very last day of it I am lastminutedotcom, because life. Life that is busy, work that is changing and challenging, free time that is little. I wasn’t sure if I will get to this point to summarise my year with culture in Hull, I silently wanted to give this up, but I couldn’t. I have realised that I have to hold tight to what I do good until I can’t, including being in the city with camera and deliver this every year.
Time and technology has been my enemy to achieve this and I have sworn a lot, so words will be less. But hello to all people who was part of my year, amazing organisations, events, clients to make my day/week.
I have visited Ferens Art Gallery three times this year and it truly is one of the best free to enter art galleries in the UK.
Jason Wilsher-Mills: Are We There Yet?
I remember from around 2017/18 visiting Artlink for one of his exhibitions, meeting him and thinking how unique he is. And here he was, in Ferens exhibiting large scale masterpieces. Really really good. Even though not directly interactive, it felt like we, the members of public, are part of it. The art was for us.
Round two at Ferens Art Gallery:
Ferens Open Exhibition
Two visits worthy, 2024 delivered extraordinary work. I have been to Ferens Open Exhibition every year since 2015 and this was my favourite. It was rich with variety and mind boggling art work. Children’s section was adorable, will never forget the cute fox painting.
Ferens Art Gallery change the in-house exhibitions too, so most times it is a treat for the eye. At my visits I don’t squeeze through crowds of people, and it nice to consume art in piece.
Humber Street Gallery/Absolutely Cultured
Absolutely Cultured have truly kept the momentum going since 2017. With new directors board, events/exhibitions/workshops/talks have carried on being exciting and definitely resumes to be the heart of cultural scene in Hull.
Humber Street Gallery/Absolutely Cultured have truly kept the momentum going since 2017. With new directors board, events/exhibitions/workshops/talks have carried on being exciting and definitely resumes to be the heart of cultural scene in Hull.
YOU AND ME IN HU3 – Russell Boyce and George Norris
Fellow photographer and friend Abby reminded me of the opening night event and after a long day I did drag my tired ass and I am so glad I did. It was a great exhibition, especially considering how many people it brought to the gallery and touched heart strings.
At the opening night it was more of a catch up and socialising, enjoying being there, so I probably saw two photos. So I went back again with a purpose to see the exhibition.
You and Me in HU3 presented the work of two artists, Russell Boyce and George Norris. The exhibition wove together a series of black and white photographs taken over 40 years ago with ongoing work shot in colour. Through this duality, You and Me in HU3 charted almost half a century of change across an area of Hull which has seen vast social transformation since the decline of the fishing industry in the mid 20th century.
Composed of distinct series of images, the exhibition reflected a breadth of social issues whether historic or contemporary. In “Changing Times”, Russell presented an intimate set of photographs documenting daily life for a young mum during the 1980s housing crisis, whilst “Rag-Bone” explored the once prevalent but now declining occupation of the rag-and-bone man. George’s series “Gypsy Childhood” was a set of images born out of the artist’s sustained generational relationship with one of Hull’s horse-trading Gypsy communities, meanwhile “A Love Letter to Hull” was a celebratory ode from the artist to his city, loaded with warmth, love and familiarity.
Source: absolutelycultured.co.uk
The opening was full house bonkers amazing, which I was lucky to be part of. Bursting with street art culture, graffiti, photographs, installations, a screening, good vibes, music, good people, possibly true rumours that Banksy himself was there, it was truly one of the highlights of the year.
Live Like Legends is a bold and compelling celebration of Hull’s Street Art and graffiti scene. Taking place across two floors at Humber Street Gallery, the exhibition explores some of the joys and complexities of this unique form of public expression which has had a striking presence in the urban landscape of Hull since the early 1980s.
Bringing together many generations of artists who have made critical contributions to the development of this vibrant and far-reaching cultural scene over the past forty years, Live Like Legends presents newly commissioned artworks highlighting the diversity of creative practice within this artistic community.
Working collaboratively, the artists and an eclectic mix of contributors celebrate self-expression through highly stylised graffiti and multimedia work, alongside curated archival material including photography and previously unseen footage. This important cultural archive provides context to how the graffiti scene intersects with other aspects of street and youth culture, and alongside society more broadly.
Included in this exhibition is work by Detour, Ekoe, K148, Kev Le Kat, Leebo, Lonny POP, mike sprout, Mr Joe, NoHone, OBOUT, Oman, Paris, Pesh, Pinky, SI2, Skeg, Sophie Cash, Spamdog, Vrok, Xenz, Yours and Ziml.
Source: absolutelycultured.co.uk
Cold Junction by Luis Bustamante/Sebastian Bustmamante
Luis Bustamante is a Chilean photographer. He and his wife, Carmen, arrived in Hull in December 1974, as political refugees. Their son, Sebastian Bustamante, is a British-Chilean artist, curator, and researcher.
On 11 September 1973, a military coup led by General Augusto Pinochet seized control of the South American country of Chile. The coup deposed the socialist president, Salvador Allende. The Pinochet regime launched an extensive and brutal terror campaign against Allende’s supporters, including kidnapping, arbitrary arrests, torture, and executions. Groups in Britain and elsewhere worked to highlight these abuses and to support victims and their families. The Humberside branch of the Chile Solidarity Campaign organised for 30 Chilean exiles to move to the city—Luis and Carmen were among them.
As well as continuing his studies at the University of Hull, Luis walked the streets, photographing what he saw. “The camera had two purposes: it was a connection with a new life and a shield that enabled me to look at it,” he later said. These images vividly capture a sense of everyday life in Hull in the mid-1970s, a period of significant social and political change.
To mark the fiftieth anniversary of Chilean refugees arriving in Hull, Cold Junction unites Luis’s photography with Sebastian’s ongoing project El Otoño. Bringing together objects, photographs, and video, Sebastian’s work explores his status as a second-generation exile. El Otoño honours those who were disappeared, those who stayed, those who left, and those still trying to build a better future in Chile.
This exhibition is co-curated with Tom White.
Source: artlinkhull.co.uk
For the start, I haven’t been in Artlink space for years and I was amazed how beautifully the space is renovated, especially top floor kept with so much light and features.
The exhibition was very very good, the curation was exceptional. Me and my partner thoroughly enjoyed it. I was drawn to small details in a space that has so much breathing space and light. The story humble and perfect content for photography touching topics even more relevant today.
In the past I have worked for the festival and it is a intense job. After I winded down with photography in 2022 and stopped focusing on always being the photographer at major events in Hull, I didn’t have much content to show-off. This year in my career was focused on estate and odd creative projects, so I really wanted to be at the festival as a photographer. It was a great day, day for myself, with fluid brief created for myself. Highlights was the Parcel Project and Sync or Swim by Tamara&Jo
These two powerhouses always deliver. It was burst of colour and wackiness. As per usual crowds loved it. So did my camera and my photographers soul. And, hell, I was so glad to see so many familiar faces in the audience.
Freedom Festival overall was full of sunshine, the crem-de-la-crem of Hull’s finest people, great events and happy vibe, Hull transformed for the festival duration of busy busy bee town.
At the festival I bumped into Curiosity Hull which leads me to a little job I did for them few months ago at Pipe&Glass.
Curiosity Hull is a movement toward greater understanding, increased knowledge and ingrained accuracy. Taking questions, queries and requests from members of the population of Hull, Curiosity strives to provide the best, correct guidance and answers.
All content is made by the people of Hull, scrutinised by librarians from Hull’s public libraries and presented as accurately and helpfully as possible.
Curiosity is brought to you by the James Reckitt Library Trust, which has dedicated the last 100 years to increasing the provision of public libraries in Hull.
Source: https://curiosityhull.co.uk/
Here are the team in Hull at the Freedom Festival. We had a lovely chat, we talked Hull, David Burns from Radio Humberside, Clive Sullivan Way and what I do.
This was a quick but grand opportunity. The team travelled to Pipe& Glass in South Dalton to recreate ancient biscuit recipes by a Michelin Star Chef for a feature. Stunning location and a unique opportunity. Good biscuits too.
As you might of heard, I have had an interesting year in my career, so sometimes my planned culture ventures didn’t happen. Like this one below. Hull Central Library exhibition space was suppose to have an street art exhibition, but I missed it and instead I had a quick look at the James Reckitt legacy.
The year brought the usual: pretty regular jobs, new opportunities, projects, but I more and more struggled for time to have free time to do self-imitated work or culture ventures. The consequence is not very much content and some cool events missed. But I don’t dwell on it, I am trying to learn to understand that I can’t have it all.
In early 2024 I had to deal with a new challenge and I started freelancing(in a way) in estate/property photography industry. It wasn’t the plan, but I started building a portfolio and planned to have a separate business branch. I didn’t want to, I don’t think the industry is in line with other photography pay-wise, it is not about the heart of photography, I quickly learned that it is about “quick-shit-fast-turnaround” and as usual I wanted extra better. Spring/summer in my memory will be like a storm of shit where I tried to succeed and built the presence in the new industry, but I also looked very hard for sustainable alternative. Our Big Picture came together again and we mingled, went to Leeds Photo Festival, I stopped hosting photography classes and closed that chapter for a bit and was busy printing personal archives.
Our Big Picture now has concluded until further notice, but we had few exciting things at the end of the project.
Stories Of Water Exhibition
Leeds/Photo North Festival
Workshop
Visit to Cleethorpes
Stories Of Water Exhibition was an unexpected/quick turnarounds opportunity where I actually went out and created work and here you can read all about it: https://anetesoodaphoto.blog/2024/08/28/our-big-picture-stories-of-water-2024/
Leeds/Photo North Festival was OBP organised day out and we had an amazing time. I met my muse Peter Dench, shook his hand and saw some insane curation and great photography from around the world. Again: actually blog post exists : https://anetesoodaphoto.blog/2024/04/17/photo-north-festival-24/
We also had a little meet-up and workshop hosted by Wes at the gallery.
And then we went on a walk in Cleethorpes as a collective to be with the place. It was interesting and insightful to walk round the edge of Cleethorpes and talk. Initially the requirement was not to treat it as a photo-walk, but I soooo cheated.
Our Big Picture is not quite Hull, but it is close enough and very important part of my 2024, so I have included this in the summary.
Our Big Picture Gallery and organisation is a vital part of North Lincolnshire culture/arts scene, listed building is a home to small and cosy exhibition space, recommend a visit.
The decision to stop hosting photography classes was a little difficult, but at the time I couldn’t justify the energy I invested versus money it was bringing and I paused it for a bit, but after great feedback and encouragement from my students, I am hoping to start my own “thing”. Last workshop hosted didn’t quite work out like planned, but never the less, it was very good and I felt very lucky with my last bunch.
Last but not least
This festival is family. Jed and Gary working hard every year to bring the festival together to make Hull laugh. I try and visit at least 3 shows and this year it was very good selection.
Other small things happened: visit to Warrington to see fellow Latvian photographer Lasma Poisa’s exhibition Motherhood Uncovered for a little research for my own ongoing personal project.
Did some outings to scout for Halloween shoot locations and came close to discover a real local gem, but the fence/cameras stopped me to get closer [guess where this is]
Here we are, still cultured.
I really want 2025 to be more, but I am not making promises. The incentive to go out and account for it at the end of year feels like the last remains of my creative practice and work, but it is not true. I am still alive, here and people in Hull are keeping me on my happy toes. it just gets busy and I wish for more hours in the day, while dealing with the hours I have.
Thank you to all the clients, friends, organisations and my family for being my heartbeat.
Happy New Year
Love
Anete Sooda
ANETE SOODA PHOTO 