SCENES from Swindon, along with insights into towns and cities across the globe, have been brought together in a new exhibition.

It is amateur photographer Syd Pycroft's first photographic show.

His interest in camera film started as a child and his hobby has flourished over the years.

The engineer, from Old Town, now aged 51, said his latest collection was inspired by a Dutch photographer who told him to find a place in a city or town, observe it and photograph what happened.

Scenes he has captured from around the world on various trips, including to cities such as Madrid, New York and Amsterdam, feature alongside picturesque photos taken closer to home during jaunts around Swindon.

The exhibition at the Wyvern Theatre is called watch; wait.

"It all began when I was living in Holland and learning Dutch when I decided I wanted to try a different evening class," said Syd.

"So I went to a photography course and there was a Dutch photographer, Hans van der Meer.

"He told us to find a place in the city, a street, a corner, a square or a bridge, a place where people pass by and then photograph it.

"I was inspired by that and that's how the exhibition has come about."

A collection of 27 photographs are on display, featuring cityscapes of New York, and nearby Ellis Island, and a view of Swindon's Town Hall "I had been taking these pictures in distant cities for a while when a friend asked why similar photos couldn't be taken in Swindon, so I decided to find out, and actually they can be taken," he said.

But there is no digital wizardry here, Syd still uses a wet film camera and all the pictures are black and white. Syd says he prefers it that way because he says colour is far more complicated.

If a single colour isn't right then the whole picture simply wouldn't work he said.

"I have been taking photographs seriously for the past 20 odd years I suppose, but the interest was always there. On my ninth birthday I had a film developing kit bought for me which was great but of course I had no camera so I was rather limited to what I could do with it."

The exhibition is on display until July 1.