Untitled (bubblegum), 1989

Known affectionately as the ‘photie man’ across Merseyside, Tom Wood worked in the region at a time of great social and political change. Matchdays at Anfield and Goodison Park, trips to ‘Greatie’ Great Homer Street market and bus journeys through the streets of Liverpool all feature as part of the first major retrospective of the Irish-born artist’s work. Photie Man: 50 Years of Tom Wood is at the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool until 7 January 2024. All photographs: Tom Wood Archive/National Museums Liverpool

’ntlemen, (Cowley, Oxford) 1973

Wood moved to Cowley, Oxford in 1955. As a teenager, he was interested in art but didn’t plan to become an artist. He worked briefly as a tax officer and at the local car factory in Oxford. A friend encouraged him to join an art foundation course in 1972 after seeing his drawings. There he borrowed a camera to record his paintings. He soon started using it to make portraits. He bought his first camera soon after in 1973. Some of the works in the new show come from this period. His early instinct for a good picture is clear

Three Poses, Pierhead, 1979

Wood’s photographs around Liverpool’s Pier Head mostly ignore the familiar sights of the popular tourist spot, including the Liver Building and its iconic Liver birds. Instead, his pictures focus on the people coming and going on the passenger ferries that dock there

Mirror Mersey, 1989

Ferries provided the most direct route between Liverpool and the Wirral until the late 1980s, when buses were allowed through the Mersey tunnels for the first time

Double grope leg over, 1985

The photographs were tricky to make in the darkness of the club. Wood used a camera flash to illuminate his subjects, sometimes revealing moments that would otherwise have gone unnoticed

Pink lipstick (for Tracy and Vicky), 1984

The flash also emphasised the vivid colours of people’s outfits and makeup, their flushed faces and warm bodies

Gangolads, Anfield, 1992

For almost 20 years, Wood spent his Saturday morning at Great Homer Street market. In the afternoon, he went to the grounds of Liverpool or Everton football club. There he would photograph the crowds, then mainly men and boys, heading to the match. Among them, residents do their shopping or wait for the bus

A camera! 1986

Wood’s photographs evoke the spirit of Merseyside life from the 1970s to the present day. Together, they provide an insight into everyday life and culture in Liverpool – creating an intimate, multi-layered portrait of the city and its inhabitants

Dog shitting (Abruzzi), off Borough Road, 1979

Today, photography is an established fine art form, but this wasn’t always the case – particularly during the first half of Wood’s career

Steve McQueen, 1974

Wood first explored photography through experimental film and ‘found’ postcards

Rachel, age 17, 1985

Wood became a familiar face to the people who lived and worked in the places he photographed. He sent people prints of the pictures they appeared in or carried copies with him to give out when he saw them

Where Sammy Is

Wood says: ‘I didn’t want a show for myself or my career, but rather to give the work back to the city where it belongs’

Tired drink picture, 1986

Wood’s pictures from the Chelsea Reach nightclub in New Brighton are among his most celebrated. The crowd included some of the same people Wood photographed around town each day

Mad Max, 1993

The exhibition includes rarely shown works from the Cammell Laird shipyard

Grimace Girl in cafe, 1986

Wood took a camera everywhere with him. He photographed whatever was around him: neighbours, people on the bus and day trippers to local seaside resort New Brighton

Finding a pair (Colour film), 1990

By the 1990s, the second-hand stalls at ‘Greatie’ market had mostly been replaced with traders selling bargain clothes, makeup, shoes and bedding. Wood was struck by the groups of women, often related, who visited each week to shop and socialise

500 Sacked, 2003

Wood: ‘The energy of Liverpool and its people has informed all this work – it was everywhere I went, everywhere I looked. All I was doing was tapping into that. It has been a real labour of love’

Not Miss New Brighton, 1978-79

Wood moved to Liverpool in 1978 and became the photographic technician at Liverpool School of Art (now part of Liverpool John Moores University). The move to the region and the following decade were decisive for Wood’s style and career. Some of his most iconic pictures date from this period

Lime St, 1995

Travelling to work on the bus, Wood began to photograph the other passengers and the streets outside the window. This was a natural step for the photographer, who took his camera everywhere. The project continued for over 20 years