Above is a moodboard I have put together consisting of some of Tom Wood’s works. Tom Wood is an Irish photographer born in County Mayo 1951. His work consists of street photography, as well as portraits and landscapes based in the UK. He photographs a number of things; “on the streets, in pubs and clubs, markets, workplaces, parks and football grounds” of “strangers, mixed with neighbours, family and friends.” His most influential work is his photographs produced of Liverpool and Merseyside.

A quote from Tom Wood’s website of Tyler Whisnand states, “But Mr. Wood is not making photographs for a gallery. He is creating a diary of what he sees without being an intrusion.” This quote demonstrates the documentary style of his work and shows how Wood is producing this photographs for his own benefit. By capturing this pictures, he creates documentation for himself of where he has been and individuals he has encountered. It is evident through his outcomes that he always manages to make his subjects appear relaxed and at ease. He builds an element of trust with his subjects, like the trust of a family member, to create these natural-looking and inspiring images.

Wood captures passing moments in time, communicating an element of realism within his work. He documents moments which might not have been meant to be seen, capturing life and people in their natural elements. He photographs a vast amount of people and places, thus feeding into the nature of street photography which captures the ordinariness of everyday life.

I believe Wood’s work fits into the topic of observe, seek, challenge as he is constantly observing everything through his lens and capturing small fleeting moments, similar to Henri Cartier-Bresson’s ‘decisive moment’. By observing and photographing strangers and acquaintances in the streets of the UK, he captures the multiple realities of the streets from a unique, creative viewpoint. He seeks to create a community with the people he takes photographs of. He makes the people feel comfortable and develops a special relationship between the subject and the photographer, shown through the development of his nickname “photie man”.

This is a photograph captured by Tom Wood called ‘Grimace Girl’. It is a nicely composed image focussing on the subject of the girl facing the camera. It is obvious that the photograph has been taken through a window, as you can see the reflection through the glass. By taking the photo through the window, the reflection created allows the viewer to get a sense of location and background to the image. Though without the reflection you’d still be able to see inside the restaurant, the reflection adds to the location where you can see cars in the background.

The photograph is vibrant and colourful, making the image appear fun and joyful. What I like most about the image is that it has both elements of candid and staged methods. As you can tell, the girl is aware she is being photographed as she is looking directly into the camera. However there are still elements of realism and other factors which are not controlled, like other people in the background who are also enjoying their meals. I hope to capture images like this within my own photo making process as I believe it can create a fun aspect to the photographs and add a sense of realism, communicating documentation of real life.