Swindon's critics may refer to it as a bland and boring town, so average that it has become a favourite with market researchers.

But to Andrew Cross, Swindon's artist in residence, the town is one of the most progressive and forward-thinking places in the country.

In fact the 39-year-old professional photographer would even go as far as to say it is a model for other towns which will start to mimic its style in coming years.

The main reason for his admiration of Swindon is its buildings, especially those considered by its residents as at best unusual and at worst plain ugly.

For Andrew, who lives in London, the shapes and lines of Motorola and even a multi-storey car park in the town centre are inspiring and enterprising.

When asked by the Public Art Unit at Swindon Council to do something to mark the Year of the Artist he didn't hesitate to put forward the idea of snapping Swindon's landmarks.

He has taken around 250 shots of all sorts of buildings, from houses to factories and landscapes, for an exhibition next March which he hopes will encourage people in Swindon to see it in a different way.

"I told all my artist friends in London that I am doing a photographic exhibition about Swindon and they just laughed. But they have never been here and don't know what it is like," he said.

"It has been progressive from the word go the way it went from having a single industry to becoming Europe's boom town without collapsing is quite remarkable. The truth of the matter is that more and more places will end up looking like Swindon.

"People in Swindon need to take a closer look around they are actually in a really interesting place. But a lot of them don't see it."

The exhibition will be held at the Designer Outlet and a selection of the pictures will also appear in a special 16 photo fold-out which will be free and available at information centres and council offices.

Andrew's project is a joint one with English Heritage he is artist in residence with English Heritage National Monuments Record Centre as well as Swindon Council, whose photographers are taking more traditional shots from an architectural perspective.