Kermit Hull, Putting Life on Film

Riding through Gaston County, N.C., with Kermit Hull is a lot like riding through Mayberry with Andy Griffith. Just about everyone knows him—or knows someone who knows him.

Even in Myrtle Beach, S.C., where Hull and his wife, Irene, own a vacation home, familiar faces greet the Gastonia resident with wide smiles and tales of how he once photographed a mother, a cousin, or a neighbor.

As a staff photographer for The Gaston Gazette, Hull chronicled Gaston County life for more than 30 years. He’s captured on film such subjects as presidents, movie stars, daredevils—even those who’ve run afoul of the law. And, of course, children. Plenty of children.

“I feel like sometimes I’ve photographed every kid in Gaston County,” Hull says with a chuckle.

His favorite photos, by far, have been those that made the paper’s readers laugh, cry, and sometimes swear.

“I guess one thing I liked about newspaper photography was going out and showing people something they wouldn’t have seen if I hadn’t been there,” Hull says. “To me, a picture is a moment that lasts forever.”

So, too, are the memories Gazette readers have of Hull and his work. When he retired in 1997, the Gaston County Library exhibited a collection of Hull’s photography, including award-winning images, as well as snapshots of ordinary county life.

Not bad for someone who’s never taken a photography class.

Hull started honing his skills in the ’60s. His pastor had taken slides of a Labor Day stock car race the men had attended together. The images inspired Hull to buy a camera, and he spent nearly a decade teaching himself how to take the perfect picture.

“I would go into the newsroom and look through papers to see what they were trying to show to the public,” Hull says.

“He developed a natural instinct for making good pictures,” says Bob Hallman, who retired in 1992 after 40 years at The Gaston Gazette. Hallman watched as Hull blossomed from amateur to award-winning photojournalist.

Hull joined The Gazette’s printing department in the ’50s. As his camera skills improved, he inquired about a position in the photography department. Soon, Hull—camera in tow—was clicking away to tell Gaston County’s story.

Co-workers and community members quickly christened him with a number of nicknames, among them “Sky King” for his regular shotgun seat beside helicopter pilot Reece Kelso. The duo teamed up for aerial shots of fires, industrial parks, and the aftermath of Hurricane Hugo.

“We work good together,” says Kelso, who first worked with Hull in 1979 to cover a fire at Mary Jo’s cloth store in nearby Dallas. “I know about what he’s looking for, and he knows I know where he needs to be. I’d rather fly with Kermit I guess than with anyone I ever flew with,” Kelso says.

Other co-workers share the pilot’s admiration.

Hull and Hallman, who worked as a reporter, managing editor, Sunday editor, and business editor at The Gazette, worked together on countless articles through the years.

“If you were with Kermit and the story developed in conversation … you could suggest to him that this would make a good picture. He would never say, ‘No, it wouldn’t.’ But if it wouldn’t, he’d persuade you with something better.”

Hallman’s favorite Hull photo shows a firefighter in the aftermath of a fatal blaze. “The fireman’s face—the face said it all. You didn’t need words.”

One of Hull’s favorite photo subjects was Billy Graham, whom he photographed at the pastor’s home in Montreat, N.C. “His hair was kind of long and gray, and it reminded me that in Jesus’ time he would have been one of the disciples,” Hull says.

Hull’s career hasn’t been without its regrets about a picture or two. But for the most part, he enjoyed his 30 years in photojournalism. “I miss the people I used to come in contact with,” he says.

But Hull hasn’t exactly retired his camera. He’s still working, but now does mostly commercial work and year-round weddings.

He photographs as many as 50 weddings in a year. He’s seen brides and grooms faint mid-ceremony. He’s watched cakes plunge into lakes. And he once photographed two sisters who married two brothers atop their Harley-Davidson motorcycles. He even photographed a “meadow wedding” in a cow pasture.

And while Hull’s wedding pictures provide everlasting memories, it seems his news photos have defined his ability to tell a complete story without words.

“You just see things different from other people.”

Amy Adams is a Belmont, N.C.-based writer.

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