12 September - 24 September 2024
THE EXHIBITION
Philip Larkin pursued photography with something of the zeal he brought to his other enthusiasms (poetry, jazz, novel writing), experimenting with delayed action shutters, cropping and enlarging images and gathering his pictures into thematically ordered albums. This exhibition was curated by John Osborne, distinguished writer and co-founder of the Philip Larkin Society; and has generously been loaned to us by the Hull History Centre. It combines family snaps of Larkin's childhood with examples of mature forays into portraiture, especially of his women companions and literary friends such as Kingsley Amis and John Wain. There are landscapes and cityscapes, images redolent of the British hinterland - weedy pavements, railway platforms and 'docks where channel boats come sidling'. And there are many self portraits. A good number of the images are striking but even the lesser photos testify to the passion for photography that informs such poems as 'Whatever Happened?', 'Wild Oats' and 'Lines on a Young Lady's Photograph Album'. There is even a snapshot of the hedgehog famously memorialized in 'The Mower'.
VISIT THE EXHIBITION (Thursday 12 September - Tuesday 24 September)
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday & Friday 8:30am - 4pm | Wednesday - CLOSED | Saturday 9am - 3pm | Sunday 10am - 3pm
The exhibition is also open during evening events for concert ticket holders.
Please note that we occasionally have to close the foyer exhibition space for private hires; please check this page before visiting. Thank you.
Photo of Philip Larkin used with kind permission from the Society of Authors and the Hull History Centre