THE work of an aspiring photographer who has only recently completed her studies is to form part of a new exhibition at a prestigious institution.

Maria Murphy, of Hawkhead Way, Winsford, has been involved in Work-town, a major documentary photography project focussing on the city of Salford that culminates in a display at The Lowry starting next month.

For the 40-year-old, who completed a diploma in photography at Mid-Cheshire College, Hartford last year, the project was ideal - especially as she originally hails from the area, having resided in Salford for the first 23 years of her life.

She said: 'I found out about it through Red Eye, a photographer's network group in the North West, and I was interested because of the Salford connection.

'In fact I've been working on my own project concerning Salford, documenting the regeneration work in Higher Broughton, which is where I'm from originally. I've been working on that for over a year and some of my work is currently being exhibited in Salford Art Gallery.'

In total, 22 people have participated in the Work-town project, some semi-professional photo-graphers, other just ordinary members of the public or of local community groups, and between them they have produced some 7,000 photographs, a selection of which will be housed permanently in the Salford Local History Library after the exhibition.

Maria, who is now on the verge of starting her own freelance photography business, added: 'This project's been mostly observation of Salford life as it's like in 2006 and there's quite a broad mix of imagery, from individuals to urban landscapes and street scenes.

'All details of daily life from the routine, habitual, insignificant to the big, crowd-stopping events, are important.

'You are compiling and keeping images for posterity, capturing a moment in time, but we are also putting the spotlight on Salford, which unfortunately still has a very bad image. Salford's really quite a large place made up of many districts and each area is different and has its own character.

* Worktown is at The Lowry, Salford Quays, from September 30 until November 19.