Between Land and Sea, Graham Vasey
Multi-layered photography uncovers strands of Hartlepool history
Curlews and oil rigs, tall tales of chilly churches, striking vistas of Hartlepool’s ever-changing shorelines: it’s all part of the latest exhibition at the town’s art gallery.
Between Land and Sea features 15 specially commissioned works by photographer Graham Vasey, diving into history and folklore to spin a narrative stretching from prehistory to the present day.
“We wanted to try and map the history of the town,” Graham said. “It goes from the end of the Ice Age, through Anglo-Saxon and medieval into the Victorian industrial era. Then the 20th century, World War I, World War II and beyond.
“The idea was to create a narrative to flow through the whole exhibition. And that’s going to be interlaced with objects from the archives and other artworks, all exploring similar themes and periods in history to my pictures. It all kind of plays off one another.”
‘Even with the same negative, the results can be completely different every time’
In Graham’s vision, worlds collide. Past overlaps present, nature abuts urban. And the images themselves are striking in their originality. That owes much to his technique, eschewing the slick, pin-sharp precision of digital prints and revelling in the alchemy of developing film in the darkroom.
That’s partly due to studying photography at the turn of the millennium, when digital cameras were in their infancy. But it’s also a genuine labour of love.
“I love the whole hands-on process,” Graham said. “I create every part of my photographs myself. From the exposure of the negative to the developing of that negative to creating the prints.
“I use my own photographic paper, I buy light sensitive emulsion which I apply to watercolour paper. And I expose onto that, so every print is completely handcrafted by me.
“It’s unique. Every picture has its own little flaws, the little brushmarks and void patches, are totally unique to each one. Even though I use the same negative the results can be slightly different every time.
“I just love the uniqueness, the textures it brings out, the painterly quality it gives.”
‘It really tells the story of what the northeast coast is’
Although the technique is consciously old-school in a digital age, the results manage to be timeless and yet strikingly contemporary. Take, for example, 31,000 Metric Tons, one of the works in the new exhibition.
Shot at Greatham Creek, one of Hartlepool’s other-worldly waterside spaces, it juxtaposes old and new, natural and industrial. In Graham’s words “I think it really tells the story of what the northeast coast is.”
A big claim? “You have the oil rig on one side, then you have the building of all the new wind turbines to go on this massive new offshore wind farm,” he added. “Then, when you go there in winter what you hear is this haunting sound of the curlew, so I incorporated that in there.
“It’s this weird melding of different things, but also different times. You’ve got the end of an era for oil and gas next to the beginning of modern renewables.”
‘An old oilskin and a church tower kind of melded together to tell the story’
The coast, and the encrustation of industry over the ever-shifting shores of the Tees estuary are one inspiration. It dates back to Graham’s childhood, veering between chemical works and Cleveland Hills on regular visits to family in Saltburn or Skelton. Other ideas were triggered by objects: an ancient fragment of deer antler – perhaps the proto-Hart that lends its name to the town?
Music, too. Another image, combining St Hilda’s Church and a fisherman’s wave-battered oilskin, was a response to The Crofters’ Coats. Sean Cooney, of much-loved Teesside folkies The Young’uns, directed Graham to the song, which tells an improbable tale of a vicar unhappy that his chilly church is too close to the blustery sea, and a team of fishermen from the nearby croft who try to push it to a sheltered inland spot.
“In the story, they put down their coats and they all put their shoulders to it,” Graham said. “But after a while they gave up and went to the pub. When they came back all the coats were gone.
“Being honest fishermen, they assumed they’d pushed the church further than they thought and it went over their coats, which were lost forever underneath the church. So, using a kind of old fisherman’s oilskin, I double-exposed that over St Hilda’s church tower and the two kind of melded together to tell the story.”
That sense of multi-layered images and multiple viewpoints ties into an underlying theme: there’s more to Hartlepool than meets the eye.
‘We can change the idea that it’s a grim northern town’
The stories that emerge from this exhibition are far from the familiar narratives of Hartlepool as another troubled post-industrial community. And that’s a more realistic reflection of the town and its people than cliched views from afar – an almost literal monkey off Hartlepool’s back.
“I found that the people of Hartlepool have a real passion for the history and heritage of their town,” Graham said. “Everybody I spoke to was engaged and interested in what I was doing.”
Regular visits, often early in the morning to catch the transient east coast sunrise, saw locals coming out of their homes to ask and advise. On an official level, the local authority is eager to engage with Hartlepool as a cultural centre. That might be the impressive conversion of a disused church into an art gallery – “a beautiful space, I’m very proud to be invited to show my work there,” said Graham – or the active pursuit of lesser-known musical heritage, this is a town ready to shake off old stereotypes.
“It’s absolutely fantastic, and it would be nice to bring that to a broader audience outside Hartlepool. We can change that idea that it’s a grim northern post-industrial town.
“Because it isn’t. It’s got so much history and culture, really nice architecture. It’s an interesting place.”
Between Land and Sea: The History and Folklore of Hartlepool runs at Hartlepool Art Gallery from Feb. 1 to March 29. The gallery is open Tues-Sat, 10-5. Admission is free.
