RENOWNED snapper Martin Parr put photography in the spotlight at Merry Hill when he stopped off to celebrate the end of a four-year project documenting people in the Black Country.

A wall filled with photographs of ordinary people who live and work in Dudley, taken by the award winning Magnum photographer, is currently on display at the intu shopping centre.

The Black Country Stories exhibition features images of people and places across Dudley, Sandwell, Wolverhampton and Walsall - from Dudley Zoo to workers in Teddy Gray's sweet factory.

And the acclaimed photographer himself made a visit to the mall on Thursday (September 17) to see for himself the display in the central event area near M&S on the upper mall.

Martin, who has worked all over the world chronicling every day people and the way they live, started the Black Country Stories project in 2010, and it has taken him across the region.

He has created a photographic archive depicting traditional and modern life in the Black Country - having visited churches, football matches, Diamond Jubilee parties, dances, shops, factories and horticultural shows and many more.

Commissioned by West Bromwich community arts charity Multistory, the project also includes archive images, oral histories and four documentary films made by Martin.

A box of archive prints, specific to each geographical area, has also been given to Dudley Council, Sandwell Council, Walsall Council and Wolverhampton City Council to leave a permanent record of Martin’s work in the Black Country for future generations.

Dudley Council’s archive box was presented by Martin Parr to Richard Lewis, archivist at Dudley Archives & Local History Centre who said: “We are very grateful to Martin and Multistory for adding such wonderful photographs to our collection.

"The renown and quality of Martin, combined with the people of Dudley borough in the photographs, make them a great asset to our holdings and a wonderful addition to the photographs already held at the Dudley Archives and Local History Centre.

"In addition to being a beautiful record of local people they, in conjunction with existing holdings, will allow for a visual comparison of the people of nineteenth, twentieth and twenty first century Dudley.”

Martin Parr, who also signed books during the visit and met photography students from Dudley College, said he was "really pleased" to present a selection of his Dudley images and he added: “I hope the sense of community and diversity and the spirit of the place rubs off on the viewer.”

Shoppers are invited to have a look to see if they can see themselves or their friends or family in Martin's images which will be on display at Merry Hill until Sunday September 27.

Katie Mulvaney, marketing co-ordinator at the shopping mall, said: “Martin Parr is an internationally acclaimed documentary photographer so to have his work here and for that work to be about local people is a real coup. We hope shoppers will come to have a look to see if an image of themselves or anyone they know is on display.”