You and Me in HU3 is a new, building-wide exhibition coming to Humber Street Gallery in February. The show will be the gallery’s biggest photography exhibition since 2017’s Hull, Portrait of a City by Olivia Arthur and Martin Parr. It presents the HU3 area of Hull through the lens of two photographers – and friends – George Norris and Russell Boyce.
The exhibition uses over forty years of photography, both in black and white and colour, and curates the work into captivating stories that visitors can discover. The show begins with “Battery, boiler, bike-frame, lumber! Rag-bone”, which documents the pair’s unique meeting and follows the life of George, a third-generation rag-and-bone man.
After their encounter, Russell’s path initially took him away from Hull. However, decades later he would return to create three more stories that will feature in the exhibition. “Ladies and Gentlemen, Kandy de Barry!” documents drag artist Bobby Mandrell (Ray Millington), who would host chaotic, fun, and slightly irreverent shows at St George’s Pub. “Star & Garter (Rayners)” introduces you to the lunchtime drinkers in the smoky bar on Hessle Road, and “Living the Changes” examines how the community faced the housing and unemployment crisis in Hull in the 1980s.
After George’s introduction to photography, the creative spark was lit, and he would also go on to document the world around him. As of today, he is an established documentary photographer, and presents three stories in You and Me in HU3 that reflect the more contemporary communities.
“Peacocks” examines Hull’s sub-cultures, such as the punk, clubbing and rockabilly scenes, and shows off the ways their members express themselves today. “Gypsy Childhood” is a series of portraits of gypsy children as they temporarily settle in HU3, and “Love Letter to Hull” takes a compassionate look at the city through George’s eyes, as he documents the community he lives in.
Absolutely Cultured’s Creative Director, Marianne Lewsley-Stier, said: “You and Me in HU3 is a wonderful, place-based exhibition that we believe has great local significance to Hull. We hope visitors to the gallery will be able to find stories and histories they are familiar with, along with having new worlds and perspectives presented to them for the first time.”
George said: “Photography is my passion and personal journey documenting my time spent on this planet. I like to think that my pictures are both joyful and honest and that, with our exhibition You and me in HU3, people can relate to these pictures as much as I do.”
Russell added: “I am very excited that our joint exhibition You and Me in HU3 is happening in Humber Street Gallery. To exhibit alongside long-term friend and terrific photographer George Norris at such an impressive venue is an ambition fulfilled.
You and Me in HU3 publicly launches on Thursday 8 February at 6pm and afterwards will be available to view during Humber Street Gallery’s opening hours until Sunday 14 April 2024.