Tom Wood: 'Liverpool's Photie Man captured our carefree days'

One well-known image was a picture of Tracey Thomson and her friends at a nightclub, which Wood titled Pink Lipstick

A retrospective of Tom Wood's photos was meant to show modern Merseyside what it looked like in the 1970s and 80s, but for some visitors, it has been a chance to relive "carefree days".

Wood earned the nickname of "Photie Man" as he became a regular fixture capturing everyday life in the region.

To thank his subjects, he welcomed some to a showing at the Walker Art Gallery.

Antoinette Cosgrove, who features in one shot, said seeing herself in an exhibition was "bizarre".

The Irish photographer moved to Liverpool in 1978 and spent the next 25 years documenting Merseyside life.

His striking portraits and emotive landscapes have been exhibited in London, New York, Berlin, Paris and Geneva and have earned him high acclaim.

A retrospective of his work went on show at the Liverpool gallery in May and to thank his subjects, he recently held a private showing for some of those he captured and their relatives to take a very personal walk down memory lane.

Rachel Crawford was first photographed by Wood at the age of 17 and has posed for him several times since

Ms Crawford said she did not mind posing for Wood, as she "quite liked" having her picture taken

For Rachel Crawford, it was a chance to see several versions of herself, as Wood has taken pictures of her at several times through her life.

She said she never minded posing for him.

"I quite liked having my picture taken," she said.

"It was nice and a way of marking time, really."

Jan Davies and Antoinette Cosgrove said they were not quite as aware of Wood's work.

They said they saw him "around a lot" at Chelsea Reach nightclub in New Brighton.

Jan Davies (left) said she and Antoinette Cosgrove "didn't take any major notice" of Wood when he was working

"At the time, we didn't take any major notice of it," Ms Davies said.

"It was just our youth.

"We used to go out for a good dance on a Saturday night.

"Really good, happy times. Carefree days, innocent days."

Ms Cosgrove said it was "bizarre" to see herself in a gallery.

"I never imagined I'd be standing here today with this 50 years on," she said.

"It's just bizarre to look back at that photograph of me and Jan.

"We were so young and innocent."

Wood occasionally photographed himself, including in this 1974 self portrait

Sharon Ralph said she was "too busy having a good time to care" about having her photograph taken at the time.

"I was dancing [and] he was always around," she said.

"We didn't really take much notice of him to be honest.

"He was just part of the furniture under the fabric of the place."

She said she was glad the photographer had been there though, as without him, there would have been no pictures of those times.

"In those days, people didn't have a camera, so we didn't really have any photographs of our memories," she said.

"It evokes lots of happy memories.

"I think it shows the difference between the cultures. How people today are and how people were then.

"I think it was more hedonistic then because we weren't being recorded."

Club owner Paul Chase said Wood had a knack of capturing "more intimate moments"

Paul Chase, who ran the club, said Photie Man's images captured the "whole vibe" of the time.

"It was quite novel at first, but because he came every weekend, people got used to him being there.

"After a while, he just became part of the furniture and people got used to him just being there, taking photographs, sometimes at their more intimate moments, shall we say."

For Chris Thomson, it was a chance to see his mother Tracey, who died in 2019, "forever immortalised" in a 1984 photograph which Wood titled Pink Lipstick.

"She absolutely adored that era," he said.

"She loved nightlife and dance music and she was always in and around that up until her final couple of years."

Chris Thomson said the chance to see his late mother in her 80s heyday was "very emotional"

He said his mother was 52 when she died, which was "very young, but she was very young at heart".

"It's very emotional, because this moment in time is captured forever," he said.

"Tracy Thomson - forever a lipstick lady."

The gathering also gave Wood a chance to meet some of those he photographed again and gift them copies of their images, which he said had left him "absolutely overwhelmed".

"It really means a great deal to me [to see] these people who I haven't seen for years [and who] trusted me all those years ago," he said.

"When I made a picture of them, they were open, giving me something of themselves for free.

"It's great to be able to give them proper prints back."