A GROUP of dedicated professional and amateur photographers have been documenting each and every square kilometre of a national park over the past 18 months.

The Yorkshire Dales Photographic Grid Project is a mass public venture which shows off the diverse landscape, rich history and contemporary culture of the park.

Each and every participant was allocated one or more areas of the park, 16 kilometres square on average. Their task was to take a photograph on, or as close to as possible,to the points at which the Ordnance Survey map grid lines, in that area intersect.

The result is an incredible photographic document of every kilometre of the Dales.

The brainchild of Yorkshire based photographic artist and tutor, Tom Marsh, the project pulls together the experience of each individual contributor, their unique perspectives on the area and the distinctive landscape of the National Park.

Mr Marsh said that from locals to visitors, the people who have provided the archive have put their hearts and souls into showing what makes the Yorkshire Dales special to them.

“When I first conceived the idea for the project, my aim was to produce a body of work that not only shows the Dales at its best but also shows off areas that are rarely visited," said Mr Marsh. "We see so many images of iconic landmarks and landscapes but to me the Yorkshire Dales is much more than those. It is a living, working landscape which, at times can be harsh.

"Obtaining many of the photographs has been no mean feat, as project contributors battled with unforgiving, boggy

moorland and steep escarpments. In the project’s finished form, I feel my aims have been met and more. The Yorkshire Dales Photographic Grid Project is far more than a document of the land it is a document of the people, both visitors and locals alike, and their perceptions of this captivating area of the country.”

During August and September 2017 a selection of project photographs will be on show at the Yoredale National Park Centre in Bainbridge, near Hawes, whilst all of the images will be collated and displayed in an online archive for everyone to enjoy.