A sense of place: Supporting a Preston photographer to make their exhibition a reality
On Saturday we tore up the motorways of England for a weekend in Preston - and in doing so I picked up this photo above from local photographer Bernie Blackburn.
It's one of the shots he created as part of his Preston Now & Then Exhibition. This ran as part of the Preston Guild 2012 and stitched together photos from the past with a modern day view taken from the same place.
I'm proud to say Blog Preston, the community news site I founded in the city, was one of the organisations and companies who backed Bernie's exhibition, contributing financially to help make it a reality as the photos took their place in the St George's Shopping Centre and Avenham Park Pavillion.
So why am I blogging about it? I think it's an example of how hyperlocal and community news sites can be the catalyst for things happening in their community and in some cases re-investing some of their money into helping people who want to do something to gain publicity and share their ideas with others. Just as many local and regional newspapers still do.
It's important people know about these ideas and they are allowed to happen, Bernie's exhibition is a great example. It helps to give people a sense of place and an idea of what came before them, and in our increasingly commuter-driven world this can only be a good thing.
You can find out more about Bernie's exhibition and see more photos on Blog Preston.
The photo I'm holding by the way is of Plungington Road, Preston in the 1970s spliced with the modern day. Why did I pick it? Because "Plungie" as we called was the main student street we walked down and lived off during our time studying in Preston.
Image credit for the photo in this post to Tony Worrall