A new exhibition brings together the work of 11 photographers and more than 100 photos celebrating the resilience, creativity and community in and around Bridport.

Looking to the future through the eyes and vices of local groups, clubs, businesses and individuals, exhibition 'Endurance' has opened at Bridport Art Centres' Allsop Gallery and includes new portraits of people in Bridport, Beaminster and the surrounding area.

Mick Smith, director of Bridport Arts Centre, said: "This is the perfect exhibition to open up the arts centre with, celebrating as it does the resilience and humanity of ordinary people, brought out by some splendid and beautifully sensitive photography."

The exhibition has been created by Bridport Lockdown. Over the past year, this community project - open to anyone in the wider Bridport area - has been bringing together local people's photos and stories of their lives and experiences during and after lockdown. A way of documenting everyday lives.

Now including more than 1,500 images, sent in by almost 300 people, it will eventually become part of the archives at both Bridport Museum and Dorset History Centre.

When asked by the arts centre to put on a photography exhibition, project creator Eddy Pearce felt that as we take these first steps towards a new way of living the life that we had before, it is time to be looking forwards, not backwards.

So he, and the 10 other photographers involved, set out to capture new portraits of some of those hit longest by lockdown restrictions, and to see how life looks through their eyes. Each of the portraits in the exhibition is displayed with thoughts from people in the photo.

Eddy said: "One gallery full of photos will never be truly representative of a town or a local area. However, the photographers involved really hope that what visitors see in the exhibition, captures the spirit of the amazing place where we live and throws some positive light on tricky times.

"The photos include shots of local sports clubs, market traders, musicians, publicans, the kiosks in West Bay and many others.

"Although this is part of Dorset Art Weeks, for me this show is much more about these people and the wider community, than it is about photography or art. Having said that, we are hugely lucky to have quality work from a wide range of contributors - ranging from those taking their first steps from education into a photography career, to established and award-winning photographers with work in the permanent collection at the National Portrait Gallery."

Forty photos from Bridport Lockdown are also on display, chosen by the photographers in the exhibition and others who have supported the project.

Endurance is open from 10am to rpm until Saturday, June 6, closed Sundays and Mondays. On Saturday, May 29 and Saturday, June 6, two of the photographers will be offering drop-in portrait sessions in the main theatre at Bridport Arts Centre.

For more information, visit bridportlockdown.org.

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