WHEN French photographer Franck Gerard first visited Southend in 2016 as part of an art research project taking pictures of the Estuary, he fell in love with the town.

While here, he was particularly drawn to the Echo newspaper, fascinated by the daily news and photos of people living in the diverse community.

This week he has returned to England via a residency with Metal arts organisation, staying at its base in Chalkwell Hall, Chalkwell Park, with the idea to create a new collection of photographs taken on the streets of Southend. In collaboration with The Echo, a selected image from his work will be published daily over two weeks.

Franck explained: "When I was staying in Southend before, every morning I would be up early and so the first thing I did with my coffee, was read the Echo. I love all the stories about the people here, their lives, real lives. I am so interested in people's lives.

"I thought about this project. Of course the newspaper is for news, but I had the idea for the newspaper to include a photograph every day, something giving news of a poetic situation, to go into the paper every day. Take a picture of today, for tomorrow."

But it isn't the quaintness of 'the happiest place to live in the UK' aka Leigh on Sea, that Franck is interested in, or the scenic landscape and mudflats of the estuary, which so often seduce artists and photographers. Instead, it is the realness, the nitty gritty, the "unusual and the incongruous" which attracts Franck.

"I love London Road" he said. "You have a lot of people, a lot of different people, Pakistani, Indian, English, such a lot of shops.... and I talk a lot with people, and they are so friendly. London Road... it's living! It's strange!"

Franck, who was born in 1972 in Poitiers, France, and graduated from the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Nantes where he now lives and works, has taken photos in many places at home and abroad.

His work includes ‘En l’état (As is), July 13, 1999 - Today’, which is a body of images collected since July 13, 1999.

Twenty-Six Days, one of his most recent series, taken during a residency in Los Angeles, with the support from the Institut Français and the city of Nantes.

Echo: f

During his residencies, Franck Gérard also writes stories to accompany his pictures, from San Francisco to New York through Los Angeles and the desert, posting them on Facebook with a photograph everyday.

But even with all this globetrotting Franck admits he has a particular fascination for England and British culture. The seed may have been first planted when he was a boy, aged just 13, during a visit to Plymouth with his father.

"I came here and saw a newspaper... [The Sun] and I saw page three! I couldn't believe it! And I was only a 13 year old boy, you know? I thought, 'what is this place?'" he laughs. "I really like a lot of things about England. I like kind of strange things. For example, yesterday I took a photo of a man sitting on a bench at the seafront, holding an ice-cream, looking at it, like Hamlet, 'to be or not to be?' you know? As if it were 'to eat or not to eat?'

"But I like the ambiguity of a photo, the surreal and the reality which exists in it. For example, that photo I just told you about, 'to be or not to be', if you see this photo, you will see what I saw, but if I didn't explain it to you before, would you understand? Do you see the same? I don't know. And that is the reality."

The 'kiss-me-quick' British seaside town, has attracted other French photographers in the past including Robert Doisneau who visited Southend in 1950's.

Franck likes to navigate the streets instinctively, without a plan or map, capturing fleeting moments that would otherwise go unnoticed, often surreal situations involving people on the streets.

"I just like to wander" he said. "I can't get lost if I know which way is north, east, south, west. I don't need a map.

"I like that this stuff is still a challenge to me. I have to find the good picture of the day. It is a simple idea, but... we will see."

A spokesman for Metal arts organisation said the test images Franck took "demonstrated the potential for a striking collection that will capture Southend's residents and their environments within a new and intriguing sensibility".

Colette Bailey, artistic director of Metal, added: "This is the first time that Metal have worked with The Echo as part of an artist-led project and we are looking forward sharing Franck's work with their huge regional audience. The Echo have always been great supporters of the arts in Southend and we're so pleased to be working with them to take this to another level in print."

The project entitled, Another 'Echo', will start on June 8, with photographs printed in the Echo from June 18 onwards, for the duration of 10 days.

The public will be able to view the photographs and attend a talk by Franck Gérard on June 21 at Chalkwell Hall at Metal's regular Future Park event. Doors open at 7pm.

The event is free although booking is essential, via metalculture.com/event/future-park-4