The Peterborough Evening Telegraph
Paramedic paparazzo Chris recreates photographs of city folk... including Nobby the Tramp
Amateur photographer Chris Porsz, known as the ‘paramedic paparazzo’, tracks down the people he snapped on the streets of Peterborough all those years ago
An amateur photographer has amazingly tracked down the people he snapped on the streets of Peterborough almost 40 years ago and persuaded them to pose once again for a new book.
Paramedic Chris Porsz, who has his own Peterborough Telegraph column, spent hours walking around the city in the late 1970s and 80s, taking candid shots of punks and policemen, siblings and sweethearts, traders and teenagers.
Three decades later Chris, known as the ‘paramedic paparazzo’, decided it would be fun to reconstruct a handful of his favourite photos from the past.
And incredibly, some of his long-lost subjects recognised themselves after he published their pictures in the PT, on his website and on Facebook.
The reconstructions were such a success he was determined to do more, and he has spent the last seven years tracking down the people in his pictures and persuading them to pose once again.
Chris said his book Reunions, which features 134 pictures, “would not exist without The PT.”
He added: “This book has been nearly 40 years in the making and I believe the project is totally unique. I don’t think anyone else has tracked down so many strangers and recreated photos in this way before.
“It has been very hard work and I’ve had lots of setbacks along the way, but I always believed this could be something really special and was determined to do at least 100 reunion pictures and it has been a labour of love.”
Chris caught the photography bug after buying a camera when his first child Simon was born in 1978.
Soon family photos were not enough for him and on his days off Chris, who was working as a casualty porter at the former Peterborough District Hospital, started walking the streets for inspiration.
He took pictures of punks with colourful hair, siblings playing in the streets, shopkeepers selling their wares and even policemen carrying out their duties.
Chris would then develop his photos in a dark room at home and put the best ones in an album, but by 1986 he had a new job as a paramedic and, with three children, life was busy and he had less time to devote to his hobby and his albums started to gather dust.
Then in 2009 he came across his old pictures and sent some to what was then The Peterborough Evening Telegraph. The readers loved them and soon he was getting letters from readers who recognised themselves in the photos.
“I had never taken anyone’s phone numbers or names and never expected to see any of the people in my pictures again. I just took them at random,” said Chris.
“Then I realised it would be fun to recreate some of the pictures and I became determined to find more people.”
Chris’ first reunion was Tony and Sally Wilmot, a couple who Chris photographed saying goodbye at Peterborough Railway Station in 1980 and who are on the cover of the new book.
The pair, who had no idea their picture had been taken, went on to get married and have two children. They got in touch with Chris after Tony’s father spotted the picture in our paper.
After that Chris became a man on a mission and used every means possible to track people down.
On one occasion he found Ricky Clarke, a man he had photographed in a derelict house, after responding to a 999 call.
Chris said: “Ricky rang 999 as he was unwell and as a paramedic I was called to his home. Whilst treating him he said that I had taken his picture 30 years ago. I couldn’t believe it, it was a million-toone chance. The first 50 photos took around four years to do, but social media made it easier and soon I was struggling to keep up, sometimes doing 10 reunions a week.”
Chris’ reunion photos have seen him reunite old friends and relatives, some who had not seen each other for decades. Other pictures proved harder when people had moved abroad and some were particularly poignant when people had died and relatives stood in as a tribute.
One picture shows homeless Scotsman Michael Ross, affectionately known as Nobby the Tramp, who lived in a bus shelter in Orton Longueville for 15 years in terrible conditions after his house burnt down. Chris photographed him again 35 years later after he had moved into sheltered housing.
“It has been enormously satisfying to do so many reunions and seeing the smiles on people’s faces as they met up with old friends again. I’ve felt very privileged,” said Chris. Recreating the pictures has brought back lots of memories for all of us and it has been really fascinating to see how the people have changed and what they are doing now.
“Some people have hardly changed and others have changed completely, some have lost hair and others have gained hair. Some have changed their lives around and others have fallen on hard times.”
Reunions costs £15 plus p&p and is available from www.chrisporsz.com. It is also available for £15.99 at the following stockists in Peterborough: Colemans in Cowgate, Shrives in Westgate, Art in the Heart, Westgate Arcade, and Waterstones in Bridge Street.