PHOTOGRAPHS from the famous Humphrey Spender collection at Bolton Museum are featuring in a major exhibition in Spain.

Spender, who died in March aged 94, was a news photographer who took hundreds of photographs of life in Bolton during the 1930s Depression for the Mass Observation project.

Bolton Museum owns more than 1,000 of his original negatives and 200 original prints. The collection was bought in the 1990s for £29,000.

The principle behind Mass Observation was that the truth would be revealed only when people were unaware that they were being photographed this led to Spender often being told to"clear off by Bolton people.

The Mass Observation exhibition will be held in the Centro Cultural Conde Duque in Madrid until July 17. It features 22 of Spender's pictures, along with four photographs and an oil painting by Humphrey Jennings, who was one of the Mass Observation organisers.

This is the first time the works have been shown in Europe, although they have been loaned to the Tate in London and the USA.

The Mass Observation exhibition is part of the annual photography festival PhotoEspana 05, featuring 53 exhibitions in the the city.

Fiona Salvesen, Bolton's keeper of art, said:"Our exhibition is in the top five.

"The Spanish sent a truck to Bolton to pick up the pictures and I flew to Madrid to supervise the exhibition.

"The exhibition is in the fantastic setting of a former 18th century barracks. There has been a lot of interest in the Spenders and the French newspaper La Monde is writing an article about them."

The exhibition has been organised by Professor David Allan Mellor of the University of Sussex, where the Mass Observation archive is held.

Spenders pictures are available for the public to view on the Our Treasures website at www.ourtreasures.org