A GWENT mother and daughter are among the latest readers to spot themselves in 1980s photographs taken for a Newport University documentary photography project.

Joan Etchells, 63, of Newport, and her daughter, Lisa Stoddart, 44, of Cwmbran, noticed themselves in pictures published in the Argus as part of celebrations marking the centenary year of photography being taught in the city.

Staff at the University of Wales, Newport, are asking people who spot themselves in pictures we have published to come forward.

Mrs Etchells, who now lives in Pill, spotted herself standing outside her former home in Victoria Crescent, Baneswell, during a street party celebrating the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer in 1981.

She said: “Everybody brought out their tables and we got lots of memorabilia for the children. It was a fantastic spirit.”

Mrs Etchells, who used to work at the city’s ABC cinema and as a singer in local clubs, also spent three or four years organising the Baneswell carnival.

She said: “The whole community would get involved. I loved the whole glitz and glamour thing. I would stay up all night organising it.

We would have a carnival queen float and a glamorous granny competition. It was fantastic.”

Mrs Stoddart, who was crowned Baneswell carnival queen in 1982, spotted herself in a picture as a teenager playing in Victoria Crescent. She said: “I must have been about 13 or 14. We were playing a game called Snail. We would chalk a big snail on the ground and then you would have to hop on each segment without touching the lines.”

Mrs Stoddart, who is married to Alan and has seven children, added: “Weused to have hours of fun. There were no iPods back then.”

Were you snapped by student photographers?

An exhibition is planned for April at the university’s city campus as part of celebrations and documentary photography senior lecturer at the university Paul Reas wants people who recognise themselves in the pictures to get in touch.

If you spot yourself, you can contact Mr Reas at paul.reas@newport.ac.uk

You can see a gallery of pictures on our website from the Newport Survey project.