Loss + Resilience

This exhibition is a study in photography and film of the human stories underpinning Hull’s distant water trawling industry, its demise and legacy, by award-winning independent photographer and filmmaker Simon Sharp.

The exhibition comprises two photographic studies: Old Salts and The Women. Brought together here, for the first time, the images portray the separate perspectives of Hull’s men and women of the turbulent period of the Cod Wars in the history of the UK fishing industry. At the heart of the display is the short film Lost, a single, human tale of loss and resilience, centred on the fishing disaster of 1968 when three Hull trawlers were lost, along with 58 men, in the icy waters off Iceland.

The combined effect is a deeply personal exploration of the impacts of political and economic decisions on individuals and communities.

The museum is delighted to be working with Simon to bring together his award-winning work on Hull’s fishing communities. Through the art of storytelling and communicating that story to the wider social world, his personal vision is to create cinematic experiences that actively seek out the shades of grey and complexity within everyday life in order to humanise and connect people and their cultures across differing social spheres and boundaries.