An exhibition of photos taken in Wanstead Park will be on display in a gallery from this Saturday.

The pictures were all taken as part of a competition run by the Friends of Wanstead Parklands and are being exhibited at Eightyfour, a photography gallery in Nightingale Lane, Wanstead.

Gallery owner Geoff Wilkinson, 66, said he was impressed by the standard of photos on display.

He said: “The park is a very photogenic place anyway, but the photographs in this exhibition really do show it off at its stunning best.

“It changes so much from season to season and I think the pictures really capture that.

“I’ve been in photography a long time and I have to say I’m surprised by the quality of all the work.

“There are some real crackers.”

Mr Wilkinson moved to Wanstead from Gants Hill nine years ago and opened eightyfour in 2008.

He has previously worked as a professional photographer for The Daily Mail, The Sun, The Sunday Mirror and People magazine in New York.

As well as exhibitions, he runs photography workshops and posts a different photo of Wanstead to his blog Wanstead Daily Photo every day.

He said: “The aim is to keep it going for a year. I’m about half way through.

“I never go anywhere without my camera and I’m always looking for interesting things.

“Wanstead is such a great place there are some very pretty streets and of course you have the park. It’s just a little challenge I’ve set myself really.

"People from all over the world including the USA, Australia, Russia, France, Germany look at the blog.

"Every day someone somewhere in the world is looking at pictures of Wanstead!"

Dwight Wood, chairman of the Friends of Wanstead Parklands, said: “We’re grateful to Geoff for putting on the show.

“We had 200 entries to the competition which is great.

“Picking winners was really difficult because the standard was so high.

“Wanstead Park is such a wonderful place, but it often feels like it’s a bit of a secret even though it’s a Grade Two listed park.

“It should be up there in the public consciousness with places like Hampstead Heath and we hope events like this help spread the word.”

The Friends of Wanstead Parklands plan to make a calendar featuring some of the best photos.

The exhibition at eightyfour runs from May 18 – May 25.

The gallery is open from Wednesday to Saturday 10am to 5pm and Sunday 10.30am to 4pm

Visit Geoff Wilkinson’s Wanstead Daily Photo blog at www.wansteaddailyphoto.blogspot.co.uk