A day in the life of seaside village

Nov 20 2007 by Dave Black, The Journal

TALENTED amateur photographers who captured a typical day in the life of a seaside village will see their inspiring work take pride of place in hundreds of homes.

More than 200 enthusiastic snappers aged from seven to 80 took thousands of photographs during a 24-hour period in August to create a unique snapshot of social life in Newbiggin-by-the-Sea, Northumberland.

Now 36 of the most impressive images are being featured in a full-colour calendar, 600 copies of which will go on sale as a permanent record of the innovative project.

At the same time, 80 of the best photographs are going on show to the public in a week-long exhibition at the village’s St Bartholomew’s Church Centre, starting on Sunday.

In all, around 3,000 pictures were submitted to the One Day For Newbiggin event organisers, who say they have been bowled over by the quality of the work. Newbiggin Photography Group say the photo-graphs include images of fishing trips, the village’s new Couple offshore artwork, families having Sunday lunch, people out for walks and gardeners tending their allotments.

There have also been plenty of cheeky and humorous images, including one of four men in a urinal looking back over their shoulders at the picture-taker.

Yesterday Rebecca de’Wessington, 42, a member of the photography group and owner of the village’s Pride of Northumbria food and crafts shop, said: “The photographs taken by people have been outstanding, artistic and quite moving. We have had an extremely difficult task in choosing 36 for the calendar and 80 for the exhibition.

“The whole project has produced a very positive image and shows what life is like behind the scenes on a typical day in Newbiggin. We have done a first run of 600 copies of the calendar but I think we will have to produce more. It will provide people who buy it with a permanent and historic record of one day in the village.” One Day For Newbiggin was held to reflect a period of major regeneration and change in the village, and tie in with the £10m summer project to give it a new beach, coastal defence breakwater and Couple artwork. Photographer Jason Thompson, who also helped organise the event, said: “We wanted to capture the mood of optimism, nostalgia, excitement and pride, which are emotions being experienced by a high percentage of residents in the village.”

The free exhibition in the village, from Sunday until Saturday December 1, will be followed by a three-month run at the Woodhorn Museum and Archives Centre, starting in June next year.