I always say I am from Hull but in reality I have never lived there. I was born in Beverley (7 miles from Hull) and lived in the area until moving to Newcastle when I was 22. I worked in the city from 1978 to 1980 and also visited on a weekly basis with my job as a sales rep, from 1989 to 2000. I love going back.
In Newcastle we have the Hoppings, which I absolutely love. Every year I go three or four times to make photographs, soak up the atmosphere and even shoot models. It’s such a cool place to be. The one down side for me is that it takes place in the middle of summer and fairs really should be in the dark so you get the full effect of all the lights.
I used to go to Hull fair as a kid but don’t ever remember going back after I was about 12 years old. This meant that this would be the first time in fifty years I would have visited. The atmosphere was amazing. Loud and brash and even tacky (in a really good way)! I met up with David and Mike who I had never met before , but followed on Instagram (and Dave’s YouTube channel). I made hundred’s of photos and had an amazing time. I also got chance to meet up with an old friend who I used to work with in 1980 - it’s brilliant that we have kept in touch all this time.
I did some street photography on the Monday on my own, and more on the Tuesday when I met up Dave again, plus Matt and another Mike (who I had met previously met when he came up to Newcastle do some street).
The vast majority of my street photography is obviously done in Newcastle so it’s always good to go to a new place and see different streets and different people. Hull city centre is bigger than Newcastle and there are a lot of streets to wander with plenty of people (and dogs) around.
As much as I had a brilliant time, when Wednesday morning came around I was very much looking forward to getting on the train and heading back to the Toon. I did a few shots around the station before settling in to my transport.
When I got the photos on the PC, turns out I’d made over 2,200 photos! That’s a lot of processing to sort out! Totally worth it :)
Thanks for watching - hope you see something you like.