TOM WOOD, MERSEYSIDE'S YOUTH

On the banks of the River Mersey, between Liverpool and New Brighton, Tom Wood photographs the youth of the mid-1980s trying to fill the void and boredom.

Ferry accros the Mersey: first contact with the youth of Liverpool

In his first series of photographs Ferry accros the Mersey (1985), Tom Wood captures young people killing time on the outskirts of Liverpool harbour, or those who, like him, make the daily ferry crossing of the Mersey.

Looking for Love : a portrait of the youth of New-Brighton

Tom Wood's first photo book Looking for Love (1989) is a series of portraits photographed between 1984 and 1987 in the disco-pub Chelsea Reach in New Brighton. This small seaside resort in the North of England was one of the few meeting places for young people where everyone tried to fill the void with parties, pints of beer and flirts. Tom Wood went there regularly and his proximity to the regulars gave him the opportunity to capture increasingly intimate portraits, with saturated colours and raw light, without ever falling into voyeurism.

All these characters compose with their everyday clothes until they create a whole new aesthetic. They have white five-pocket jeans, striped shirts over advertising t-shirts, fully buttoned polo shirts and suit jackets found at thrift stores.