joshua daniels - london, uk

photographer joshua daniels has sent in this image from the big smoke

"Litter, smoke and alcohol I believe is the blood of the city running through all the streets like veins, people consume smoke and alcohol like food and drink, and discard the leftovers, which leave the streets with the tell tale signs of modern life. I decided to show a close up image rather than a city landscape to show the close up view of the reality of city life."

emily tull - ramsgate, uk

from freelance artist emily tull...

http://www.emilytull.co.uk/

http://www.theweirdworkingsofemilysbrain.blogspot.com/

this image was taken in my hometown of Ramsgate, a town of developement and much change which means it is a mish mash of modern and old. So much can be read about its history by just walking around for most of the things that have been modernised and replaced have been still left and not been removed. This sign represents the original route to London, once a prominent fixture, now faded and rusted but has a beautiful, quiet charm.

sonia shepherd - prague, czech republic

artist sonia shepherd's image comes from prague -

" I chose this concert poster because it represented Prague as a city that promoted live music everywhere. The guitars on it evoked memories of live music being played in pubs and clubs in Birmingham, UK, in the 1960's."

peter rose - stafford, uk

from peter rose in stafford

This is the Victoria Bridge over the River Sow in Stafford.

I think it's quite a beautiful place in many ways, even though it's in the middle of an urban sprawl.

It's a good place to contemplate whatever needs contemplating.

marianne richardson - harlow, uk

marianne richardson has been shopping...

My 'Beauty in the City image' ... was taken at The Water Gardens, a shopping complex in Harlow, Essex. I photographed shopping trolleys because they looked beautiful glistening in the sunlight and I liked the interesting patterns the overlapping legs created.

Our days are often taken up with mundane tasks like a trip to the supermarket, but sometimes beauty can be found where you would least expect it. Sometimes it is good to look at the world with fresh eyes, to look beyond the everyday, and to really appreciate what you see before you

siobhan tarr - sydney, australia

thanks to siobhan tarr who has sent in these two pictures from her old stomping ground in sydney.

Walking through Chinatown in Sydney I was delighted to rediscover this little water hydrant man who lives in a hole in the wall. I lived here a long time ago and used to smile everytime I passed him on this busy main road on my way to work. I´d forgotten all about him until recently, back on holiday in Sydney, waiting at the traffic lights I spotted him across the road – like all the other hundreds of times I had to grin back at him.

I thought this chunk of bright red water pipes/sprinkler system at the Rocks in Sydney could possibly be related to the red water hydrant man in Chinatown!

julie brixey-williams - london, uk

artist julie brixey-williams has sent in this wonderful magnet intervention.

www.juliebrixey-williams.co.uk

My studio is just around the corner of a municipal dump (Stirling Road, Acton, London W3). The guys who work there take the discarded objects and arrange them in different tableaux + I often visit it like a gallery to see what's new. This was today's new 'Still Life with David'.

and so the time has come. after two years, including an enforced break and a triumphant return, over 40 artists/photographers have submitted a total of more than 200 images, documenting cities around the world from the project base of stoke-on-trent to as far afield as chiang-mai and jakarta. each participant has referenced their city, finding their urban beauty and documenting it photographically in their own unique way.

the exhibition will take place at AirSpace Gallery, in stoke-on-trent and will run from the 5th-17th April in the gallery's window exhibition space. the show will take the form of a looped slideshow and will run continuously for the duration of the exhibition. take a look at AirSpace's website here.

http://www.airspacegallery.org/

and this is just the start. the project will go on! plans are in negotiation to build on the start and take the exhibition on tour - cities in spain and poland, france and germany will hopefully be experiencing our beauty in their cities, so...watch this space.

and in the meantime, it would be great if you could come and witness the project to date.

thanks, so much, to everyone who has taken part and ensured that many people will start to see the beauty in their urban everyday.

iain macleod-brudenell - nottingham, uk

thanks again to iain macleod-brudenell, this time for these two images taken in his home city of nottingham. it's interesting the way the railing separates two stratas of the city view.

he writes..."The... images were taken whilst waiting for the tram on a wet morning

Rain droplets- the ephemeral, often ignored, transitory beauty of the effect of weather in the city"

iain macleod-brudenell - new york, usa

CHARRED -was taken in New York - an incongruous burnt bill board hoarding. As well as the peeled posters it was possible to se through to the supporting structure. It looked as though a huge installation had been inserted in an otherwise 'normal' street. A beautiful and intriguing serendipitous work of art. - Iain Macleod-Brudenell

beauty of the month for february

congratulations to sophie gibson whose submission of this image d'amour is selected as february's beauty picture of the month.

ruth shaw-williams - oxford, uk

Ruth Shaw-Williams writes..." There is beauty in marmalade; I don't work in marmalade, but I do work for an Oxford-based, self-advocacy organisation, with offices in The Jam Factory and I do love the work. "

http://www.mylifemychoice.org.uk/index.html

http://www.thejamfactoryoxford.com/building.html