Behind the Scenes at Our First Wrecsam Photomarathon

On Saturday 22 August, after weeks of planning, sorting envelopes, checking prompts and making sure everyone knew where they needed to be, our first Wrecsam Photomarathon finally happened.

By 12.30pm, we had three different parts of the event running at once.

Natalie and Jayne were based at Wrexham Library, ready with the sealed prompt envelopes for people collecting there.

Over at Brynteg Library, Amber and Sian were doing the same.

Meanwhile, Bev was managing the online side, sending the prompts out by email so people who were not heading to either library could still take part.

Then the clock hit 12.30pm and the envelopes opened.

From that point, the challenge belonged to the participants.

They had four prompts, four photographs to take and three hours to decide what those prompts meant to them.

Three age groups, three different challenges

There were three age categories, 6–11, 11–17 and 18+, each with its own set of four prompts.

That meant families could take part together without everybody having exactly the same challenge.

One person might be looking for something that fitted one word, while the person beside them was thinking about something completely different.

That was one of the things we liked most about the format.

There was no correct photograph to take and no particular place people had to visit. A prompt could lead somebody towards a building, a person, a tiny detail on the pavement or something completely unexpected.

Getting everyone started

We stayed at both libraries for the first hour of the event, mainly so there was somebody there if people had questions when they collected their envelopes or needed help getting started.

After that, participants were out and about completing the challenge, and we remained available by email throughout the afternoon for anyone who needed us.

That worked really well because it gave people support at the beginning without making the event feel over-managed.

Once the prompts were out, people could take the challenge in their own direction.

You did not need to be a photographer

From the beginning, we wanted this to be something people could simply have a go at.

Phone cameras were welcome and no previous photography experience was needed.

That mattered because photography activities can very quickly start to feel as though you need the right camera or technical knowledge before you are even allowed to call yourself a photographer.

For this event, none of that was necessary.

You just needed something that could take a photograph and your own way of looking at the prompt.

Then the photographs started coming back

By 3.30pm, the photography part of the challenge was over and the entries had arrived.

That was the point where we could finally see how differently people had interpreted the same ideas.

Some prompts produced completely different styles of photograph depending on the person behind the camera, which was exactly what we had hoped would happen.

The photographs are now with our judges, who have the difficult job of choosing the winners.

There will eventually be 12 winning photographs, with one winner for each prompt within each of the three age categories, and each winner will receive a £25 prize.

For now, though, we are keeping everything under wraps while the judging continues.

More than a competition

The Photomarathon was always meant to be more than a photography competition.

It was also about giving people a reason to stop, look around and notice Wrecsam differently.

People see different things depending on their age, where they are, what catches their eye and what a particular word means to them.

Put all those perspectives together and you get a much more interesting picture of a place than one carefully chosen image ever could.

The event was organised by Done Together CIC with funding support from the Wrecsam2029 City of Culture Youth Forum and AVOW Young Influencers. Wrexham and Brynteg Libraries also supported the event by providing collection venues for free.

For now, we are waiting for the judges to finish the difficult bit.

Well... trying to wait patiently.

We will be sharing the winners and more photographs soon.

Until then, thank you to everyone who opened an envelope, checked an email, picked up a camera and showed us their Wrecsam.

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