The public are invited to the launch of the Creative and Cultural Company’s first photography exhibition following the hugely popular Hull International Photography Festival. David Morris’s exhibition of the rich variety of life in European bars – Barlife – opens at HIP (Hull International Photography) Gallery, Upper Deck, Princes Quay Shopping Centre, Hull, on Friday 6th November, from 6.30pm - 8.30pm. The exhibition is free entry and will be open until the end of December.
David, who grew up in Hull, explained: “All life is played out in this theatre where people make their entrances and exits, strut, pose, laugh, cry, and fight. A place where you come to find others or lose yourself, gain your confidence or start to come apart at the seams.
Bars, cafés, and pool halls, wherever people and alcohol mix, provides a fascinating insight into the human condition, from the dramatic to the banal, from the beautiful to the dangerous. Terrific lighting, intriguing faces, thoughtful moments, what else would a photographer want?
This is a work in progress, interesting but edgy, the ever-present threat that you could get a punch in the mouth if you misjudge a situation.
David continued: “I learned my photography here in Hull and explored its ‘Barlife’ in the early 70s. There was a rhythm to the day in the life of a bar; the mornings started bright and optimistic, old men playing dominoes, deep in smoke and conversation, a busy lunchtime where serious faces appear and young trawler men sported suits and hairstyles peculiar, outlandish and unique to their tribe. The evening was a different world altogether; women appeared.
It was an experience I never got over, it became an obsession that has led me to explore the bars of Amsterdam, Milan, France, and Spain. And now I’ve come full circle and the work will be back where it all started in Hull with a one man exhibition at HIP.”
Hull International Photography (HIP) Gallery is open every afternoon, from 12noon until 5pm, Monday to Saturday and until 4.30pm on Sundays.
Creative and Cultural Company Projects Director Darren Squires said: “We are delighted to host Barlife at the HIP Gallery. It’s a fascinating exhibition, giving us a glimpse of life in Italy, France, Spain and the UK.
Alan Raw, Creative and Cultural Company CEO and HIP Creative Director, added: “Following a record number of visits to Hull International Photography Festival 2015 we are indebted to our sponsors G. F Smith who have been instrumental in developing the gallery and exhibitions. They continue their support by sponsoring this excellent Barlife exhibition.”
