'Privilege' to share pupils' views of city heritage

Wolverhampton Mayor A group of about 30 children and adults wave at the camera in an exhibition space, surrounded by boards showing photography and history exhibits.Wolverhampton Mayor
Children involved in the exhibition attended the opening at the Mander Centre

An exhibition showcasing children's photography of Wolverhampton's heritage has been a "privilege" to work on, according to an organiser.

Martin Phillips of Historic England said the project, Celebrating Wolverhampton's Heritage Landscape, had shown young people in the city had a "clear eye for photography and clearly care about their area's heritage".

He paid tribute to teachers who had worked on the project, whose "deep commitment" had provided "lovely opportunities" for their pupils.

Their work is on display at the Mander Centre exhibition space until Wednesday, opening from 10:00 to 14:00 BST.

Martin Phillips/Historic England A caption board showing the work is from The Royal School, Wolverhampton, alongside five enlarged photos: a sunset cityscape, a football painted on tarmac,   a rooftop view of a spire, a historic house and a stretch of water behind railings.Martin Phillips/Historic England
Martin Phillips/Historic England A wide shot of several clusters of photographs alongside caption boards, none of which are clearly visible but include a range of landscapes and close-ups of heritage features. They are displayed on a white wall with a lattice frame holding lighting above.Martin Phillips/Historic England

The exhibition features work from schools across the city.
The exhibition is on for a week at Wolverhampton's Mander Centre.

The photography is inspired by the work of Tom Hicks, known on Instagram as Black Country Type, who led a group of Wolverhampton teachers on a photo walk of the city centre last autumn.

Phillips said: "I've learnt a lot about Wolverhampton, photo composition and physically putting together an exhibition and hope to do another collaboration in the future."

There are also displays of local history work, artwork inspired by local themes and banners outlining what heritage means to each school.

The event was opened on Thursday by Wolverhampton's mayor Paul Singh, who said in a social media post that it had been "inspiring to see Wolverhampton's heritage brought to life" by the city's young people.

Martin Phillips/Historic England Three people stand in front of photographic exhibits and captions on a white wall in an exhibition space, smiling at the camera. A woman with long dark hair is on the left wearing a white top and small mayoral chain. The man in the middle has a white shirt, grey tie and larger chain, and the man on the right is in a blue suit, white shirt and dark tie.Martin Phillips/Historic England
Wolverhampton's mayor and mayoress opened the exhibition with Historic England's Martin Phillips

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