NEGATIVE HERITAGE
A love letter to my Dad - Douglas Simeon Wood
Dad left a lot of old photos and I wanted to share them with a wider audience. The sheer volume of photographs and slides are rather overwhelming, but the negatives that he took when he was very young seemed to be more of a manageable project.
I thought that one way of getting the negatives to see the light of day would be to transfer them onto Polaroid photographs, which is how this series came about. I first showed them during Polaroid Week 2019 and now I’ve made a ‘zine from the series with profits from the sales going towards Dementia UK. Let me know if you’d like a copy.
DEsk Job
This is Dad in his first job on leaving school. He was a bank clerk in Wiliiams Deacons bank in Royton, cycling every day from Rochdale. He was offered positions with two professional photographer’s studios in Manchester (Lafayettes and Gofenburgs) but his parents had a banking career in mind and so off he went to the desk job. He still took his camera to work though! He must have been about 18 here.
Tightrope walker
A circus came to town and Dad was there with his camera.
Rapt audience
maybe they were watching to tightrope walker!
TATLER
I’m unsure where this is but it reminds me of a scene from an old BW film.
view from the tower
most likely taken at Blackpool
BIKE
As a young man Dad loved motorbikes, he had saved up with his bank earnings to buy a Panther bike but I think this was taken a a bike hill event where the family had gone for the day.
beach
Unidentified member of the family but he’s very happy to be on the sand!
A Grandma
I say ‘a’ grandma as I’m guessing here, not really sure who she is but the picture just looks the epitome of quiet content from both the baby and the woman.
radio operator
The war called to Dad at a very young age, he was just 18 in 1938 when he joined the territorial army and on 1 September 1939 he was mobilsed with the 53rd Field Regiment of Bolton Royal Artillery.
PISA
I think they’ve straightened it slightly since this was taken, but I think he chose the angle very carefully here for maximum effect.
war work (DESK)
Dad took many photographs during the war, mainly of his friends and fellow soldiers. There are many more prints in boxes that I have still to go through!
war work (Telephone)