The New Look Trinity Square, Hull
The public realm works in Hull are drawing to a close in some areas of the city. The focus on completion of the more prominent locations is understandable given the start of the City of Culture celebrations on New Years day 2017 and whilst works are still ongoing in certain parts of the city centre, the resulting facelift can now be appreciated in others. Take Trinity Square as an example and the change is quite dramatic!
I checked the progress of the works a few times when in the old town over the latter end of 2016 and could almost envisage the shot I wanted. I first visited the new look square with the camera in the opening week of the Made In Hull installations and grabbed a few night shots. The floor wasn't that wet but still I managed a slight reflection in the newly laid stone slabs. Being after dark the colours didn't quite look right, the image just didn't have that pop that I knew was there I just had to draw it out. The resulting black and white image from that night was okay, but I wasn't happy with it and so back to planning my next visit.
I thought about a sunrise shot but didn't want the bright sun and Holy Trinity Church in Silhouette and I knew I needed a wet surface but I didn't fancy lugging my gear around in a thunder storm. So this didn't give me many options and with three kids and weekends being the only real time I get to spend with them, chasing the perfect conditions wasn't ideal. I awoke early one Sunday morning, before any of the family had risen, I could hear the tinkling of rain on the window and thought about turning over and snoozing a little but then I remembered the wet surface. I got out of bed, peered through the blinds and it wasn't that bad. I must've disturbed the wife because she asked how the weather was. I enlightened her with the news it was dull and raining and she said 'never mind' and something about better luck next weekend before rolling back over, wrapped in the warmth of the duvet. So it was quite a surprise when I rocked up at the bedside 15 minutes later to say goodbye and I must admit, I doubted my own sanity when I got in the cold car, wet through from simply crossing the road.
As I drove the 10 minute journey and arrived at South Church Side it was as if the photography weather gods were looking down on me and a slight break in the rain gave me a glimmer of hope. I set up in the boot of my car as the rain was still coming down but only lightly and headed to my selected spot, umbrella in hand! The weather did break for a few minutes and I managed only a handful of shots but thankfully I had enough to make the visit worthwhile. The resulting image really took off on social media, reaching out to more than 100,000 people and prints have been sent across the globe as far as Australia and Malaysia! The feedback has been great and all credit to the great work of the team changing the face of Hull. I've seen comparisons to European cities and one comment even suggested a resemblance of St Marks Square! I am genuinely excited for whats to come over the next few years and I look forward to documenting it in my own usual way.
So that was a little background story of the image. Remember to check back regularly for more updates from Images of Hull.
