Hue Hale

Born 6th August, 1993 (Dublin)
Website huehale.online

Hue Hale is a visual artist who was born and raised in the quiet suburbs of North Dublin City, Ireland. He shoots mainly on medium format film and occasionally on 35mm film. With a Bachelor’s degree in Photography, from the Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design, and Technology, he has taken part in various group exhibitions throughout Ireland and the UK. His work has been exhibited, published in books, zines and presented online.

Hale photographs quiet banal landscapes both the domestic and external. He frequently uses self-portraiture and his body to portray the mindset he is in. His work deals heavily with the darkness faced in everyday life, his identity and mental health. He uses photography as therapy, as a method of catharsis. He currently resides in Berlin.

Publications

Photography books by Hue Hale

2019, He Suffers With His Nerves, Dublin: TLP Editions Published by PhotoIreland Foundation ¹

Publications with contribution by Hue Hale

2019, Wotisart Magazine, Wotisart #24 (March), United Kingdom, Big Cartel
2019, A5 Magazine, A5 Magazine Portfolio #24, United Kingdom, Big Cartel
2019, Average Art Magazine, Average Art: February, United Kingdom, Big Cartel
2018, District Magazine, District’s Guide to Dublin City: September 2018, Dublin
2018, Totally Dublin, Totally Dublin 167: August 2018, Dublin, Totally Partnered LTD
2017, Wotisart Magazine, Wotisart #7 (October), United Kingdom, Big Cartel
2017, A5 Magazine, A5 Magazine Portfolio #7, United Kingdom, Big Cartel
2016, Source Magazine, Issue 86: Future Education, Belfast, Photo Works North

Exhibitions

Group exhibitions

2022, Fine Condiments, Wsiura Lite, Berlin, Germany
2022, Arcomadrid, Feria Arco, Madrid, Spain
2021, Queer Artists Invitational, Cornel/Henry Art, San Diego, US
2020, Out of Body, STOA Collective Dublin, Ireland
2019, Fotofestiwal Łódź, Łódź, Poland
2018, About Me, Millepiani, Rome, Italy
2017, Notes from the Heart of the City, Abbey Studios, Dublin
2017, Soft Boys, Belltable Arts Centre, Limerick
2016, Halftone Print Fair, The Library Project, Dublin
2016, Dublin Art Book Fair, Temple Bar Gallery, Dublin
2016, We Are Drifters, 126 Artist Run Gallery, Galway
2016, Photobook Fair, Impressions Gallery, Bradford, England
2016, Nothing in Stone, Steambox Galleries, Dublin
2016, Graduate Show, Dún Laoghaire IADT, Dublin
2014, Residency, The Library Project, Dublin
2013, Alternate Voices, Moxie Studios, Dublin

Projects

here’s a certain sense of comfort in knowing i’m about to fade away (2022)
For an intense period of time fueled by a mass of untreated mental health issues that eventually developed into suicidal ideation, I found myself trapped in a cycle of dissociation that warped my sense of identity and everything around me. This project depicts the cyclical nature of how the psyche attempts to survive trauma by preserving itself in a disconnected space and the effects this process has on the body. Visualising the experience through self-portraiture, I wanted to gain a clearer sense of self and that this piece may be-used as a means of catharsis. If my experience can be viewed openly as a vehicle for healing, then I hope others who are struggling in isolated mental spaces may relate and find a path to their own catharsis.This work is a monument to my transformation from a hollow shell of a creature into a real human being. By releasing this project, I’m breaking the cycle. I’m freeing a doppelgänger I saw in my place. I’m allowing those all-consuming ideations to fade, making room for mental processes that can be used to keep my head above water. To create a Future I can see myself living in. ²

He Wasn’t There (2019)
The conventional identity of a young man has always been unclear to me, the identity of a young queer man holds even greater mystery. I was born in Ireland on the cusp of homosexuality being decriminalised, although attitudes were changing and becoming more positive towards the LGBT community, I was raised with conflicting ideals. These ideals have had a direct impact on shaping my identity growing up. I was never taught about how same-sex relationships should function, or how two men could love each other romantically. He Wasn’t There is a self-reflective document of key points in the lifespan and fallout of a codependent relationship. It’s told in three chapters, I: Moneylands, II: VIDEOBOY, and III: Las Américas. Through viewing each chapter in succession as a single narrative, the project shifts focus from the impermanence of a lover’s presence to that of the identity of the subject within the images.³ ⁴

目で触る:touch with your eyes (2018)
A body belongs to the person who resides within it. However, when that body is placed in the public arena, its ownership can become destabilised. The gaze of most if not all viewers, consciously or not, fetishises and objectifies. False claims can be laid to the body of another, either through this process or by the machinations of more malignant individuals. Touch With Your Eyes attempts to visualise this fetishisation; objectification and loss of clarity surrounding the photographed individual’s ownership of their body. It also examines the role of the viewer and the means by which they either passively or actively consume the image. ⁵ ⁶

He Suffers With His Nerves (2016)
The male psyche is a problematic entity, and when drawn out into the harsh light of analysis and discussion reels, yearning to retreat back into the darkness. In Modern Ireland, the notion of a man seeking support for mental health issues, despite numerous awareness campaigns and the like, is still heavily weighted with stigma and shame. This project is a document of the emotional turmoil a young man faces in his everyday life. In photographing his body and the surrounding spaces in which he feels the most at war with himself, the feelings of isolation, insecurity, and melancholy are encompassed. Through this process, the project becomes transfigured as his mental anguish itself has been used as a catalyst for the recovery of his mind. Thus, the project functions as a method of therapy.