PHOTOGRAPHER Swithin Fry, who recently captured residents in his home village of Coleshill on film, is about to start a new project.

And his latest venture is one which will take him further afield.

He plans to take photographs of seascapes and coastal towns to illustrate a poem, Hotel Splendide, written by his wife Fiona, 39, a professional poet.

The results will be unveiled during the Swindon Festival of Literature in May.

Swithin said: "The poem is about relationships and love, and how at the seaside there are two things going on hand in hand.

"There are people there who are falling in love, and there are also older couples who have visited the seaside many times before."

Swithin, 54, a lecturer at Cirencester College, is planning to take shots along the south coast and in Wales.

"I'm looking for towns with that faded Victoriana feel," he said.

Swithin will choose one picture to illustrate each of the 10 verses of the poem to go on display at the Arts Centre in Devizes Road, Swindon.

The exhibition will run from May 7 to June 5.

Last year, Swithin took 68 black and white photographs of residents in Coleshill, which is mostly owned by the National Trust.

The project, which was funded by £4,500 of Lottery cash, was intended to give an insight into life in a rural community. It is now on display at the National Trust office in Coleshill on a semi-permanent basis.

He is hoping to display the images at the literature festival alongside his other project.

One of his subjects was actor Ashley Barker, 42, who has lived in Coleshill for two-and-a-half years.

He said: "I thought it was a really good idea, it captured the spirit of the village.

"Coleshill is very diverse, and has a range of people living in the village, from artists to people who work for the National Trust."

Also pictured was the Rev Ian Beckwith, who retired as parish priest for Coleshill last summer, and George Martin, the former Beatles producer who lives in the village.