This summer, the Williamson Art Gallery hosts two photographic exhibitions from renowned photographers Tom Wood and Cian Quayle.
Tom Wood’s photographs of Cammell Laird Shipyard in Birkenhead, taken between 1993 and 1996, were commissioned by the Documentary Photography Archive (DPA) to mark an historic point in the region’s history – just as the shipyard was closing down after 170 years. When the business re-opened as a repair yard, Wood was able to gain further access to document that next phase of the industry’s life. This is the first time that these photographs of Cammell Laird and the workers have been shown in their home town, accompanied by archive material related to the history of the shipyard drawn from the Williamson’s own collection and that at Wirral Archives.
Tom Wood, known to many locals as the ‘Photie Man’, has had solo exhibitions throughout Europe and the USA, including a retrospective exhibition in Moscow. He is currently also showing work in the Art of Football at the Albert Dock and will be featured in New Brighton Revisited with Martin Parr and Ken Grant this summer.
Cian Quayle’s photographs take their cue from the life and writing of acclaimed author Malcolm Lowry, who was born in New Brighton in 1909. New photographic artworks investigate places and sites significant for Lowry’s writing in Liverpool, Vancouver and the Isle of Man. In what was a love/hate relationship, Malcolm Lowry described Liverpool as ‘that terrible city whose main street is the ocean’.