LIVERPOOL.- A photographer who captured life in inner-city Liverpool is set to return Merseyside in a bid to track down the people who starred in his pictures.

Paul Trevor came to the city in 1975 initially as part of a project called “Survival Programmes” which looked at inner city deprivation.

The young snapper spent several months recording family life across Liverpool on the fringes of the city centre.

Among the terraced streets and high rise flats, Paul captured stunning images which portrayed a community defiant and in high spirits despite a backdrop of unemployment and poverty.

National Museums Liverpool is set to stage an exhibition of Paul’s pictures next year. Many of his images, of children playing in the street, have never been seen before.

And the photographer is keen to trace the faces he captured on film 35 years ago.He said: “I have fond memories of my time spent recording life in 1975. Despite initially worrying whether I would be accepted into the community, people were very friendly and happy to be photographed.

“Britain’s inner cities were difficult places to live in during that era. Opportunities to progress in life were extremely limited. There simply were not the jobs for people. Life was hard.

“But it was not all doom and gloom. I found people who were good humoured, cheerful and full of energy.”

Now Paul wants to trace the people who brought those pictures to life.

Paul said: “I’m excited to be returning to Liverpool later this month to try and track down some of the people in the photographs.

“Dozens of these pictures have never been seen before. I’m curious to find out what happened to the families that I met back in the seventies. Some may still be living in the city, others may have moved from the area altogether.

“I think it would be fascinating to see what those youngsters did with their lives and find out how they are now. It will bring the work I started in 1975 full circle.”

If Paul is successful in contacting families he wants to take fresh pictures in the environments they live in today.

Annie Lord, National Museums Liverpool, Head of Museum exhibitions, said: “Paul Trevor’s work in Liverpool in the 1970s was remarkable. The black and white images give us a real glimpse of family life in the city during that era.

“We are very excited about displaying Paul’s images in Liverpool next year and also intrigued to see whether people in the photos are still around.

“A lot of the photos he took were of youngsters who would now be in their 40s with families of their own.”

The Paul Trevor photos will be on shown off during Liverpool’s first-ever international photography festival, Look2011.

The festival will take place at galleries and exhibition spaces across Liverpool and Merseyside and will showcase significant new bodies of work by emerging and established photographers from both home and abroad.

Look2011 will launch with a four-day event in May 2011 featuring exhibition openings, artists’ talks, workshops and will play host to the 3rd National Photography Symposium.