Photie Man: 50 Years of Tom Wood

20 May 2023 - 07 Jan 2024

Walker Art Gallery

‘Photie Man’ celebrates the internationally-acclaimed Irish artist Tom Wood (b. 1951), showcasing his iconic images of Liverpool and bringing together his work from across all decades, it will be the first major retrospective of Tom’s work in Liverpool.

Embraced locally as ‘photieman’, Wood has dedicated much of his career to the people and places of Liverpool and Merseyside to create an intimate, diverse and knowing portrait of the city and the surrounding area, and his pioneering photographs capture a definitive phase in the social and political history of the region. He is one of the most influential photographers working today.

Highlights include epic and renowned projects such as ‘Looking for Love’ from the Chelsea Reach nightclub in New Brighton, and Wood’s widely-praised Bus Series (‘All Zones Off Peak’). Unseen long-term studies of two major local institutions like Cammell Laird Shipyard feature alongside his images taken around the city’s football grounds.

The exhibition will also explore Wood’s use of found photographs and landscape photography taken in Ireland and North Wales, alongside never-before seen film work from the artist.