My first memory of using a camera was not far from my home on a beach at Scarborough in Yorkshire. That camera was a Kodak Box Brownie. I still enjoy working with film cameras (Zeiss Icon Nettar 517/2 1951, Nikon FM, Leica M6, Hasselblad 500CM) and making prints. I think my inspiration came, in part, from knowing that my grandfather Sydney Frances (Frank) Wood and great-grandfather Sydney Harcourt Wood were professional photographers who spent many hours in the darkroom.
My grandfather flew with the RAF taking reconnaissance shots over Germany where, tragically, people he knew before the War, resided. I recall remarkable portraits in my grandparents’ home, of my mother as teenager and various relatives, and of Winston Churchill, who his father Sydney photographed, from his years as boy through to his time as Prime Minister. He also made portraits of "Wild West" entertainer Buffalo Bill, English actress, singer and comedian Gracie Fields, and Coco the Clown. He also did portraits for the United Kingdom's royal family including the Queen Mother as a young woman, King Edward VII, King George V, and King George VI. He also made portraits of King Alfonso of Spain.
In the "gallery" below are a few examples of the work done by Sydney Harcourt Wood, some made in his small studio above the art gallery his father Thomas Wood opened in Blackwellgate, Darlington (see below) in 1887. Prior to this Thomas Wood had worked in his studio in Bondgate, Darlington which he opened in 1868 and where he worked as a carver, gilder, and framemaker.
In 1871, he moved his business to Northgate in the same town where he started to sell art. Thomas Wood's reputation grew and he dealt in significant works by artists that included Rembrandt, Rubens, and Gainsborough. Sadly in 1953 the town council decided to purchase the gallery for £16,000 and demolished it to make way for a widening of the A1 highway, the "the Great North Road" between London and Edinburgh. Thomas and his son Sydney moved the business a few doors west along Blackwellgate but closed in 1963 under the ownership of Monica Wood, after nearly a century of operation in its various locations.
Thomas Wood's gallery occupied the building on the right with the Tudor facade
Thomas Wood and his grandson, Sydney Frances (Frank) Wood
Photographs by Sydney Harcourt Wood
Queen Mother
Winston Churchill as a boy
Winston Churchill as a young man
Prime Minister and Mrs. Churchill meeting Coco the clown
Film star, singer, and comedian Gracie Fields
Buffalo Bill
Information is taken from "Victorian cards had stamp of approval," The Northern Echo, Dec. 23, 2009.
