WE’RE all used to the stereotypical images of Oxford’s bicycles, boffins and boats.

But a new photography competition wants to get to the real heart of the City of Dreaming Spires – using images taken by the people who live here.

Arts at the Old Fire Station has launched a competition for people to feature in its new exhibition, Here and Now, which will open on May 4.

Shop and gallery manager Emily Alexander said: “We thought it would be really nice to show another side of Oxford, the everyday side which tourists don’t see.

“That can be anything, from little things people walk past which make them laugh, or just anything they feel is interesting.”

One picture already discovered depicts the words “Be Interesting” scrawled on the wall of a university college.

Miss Alexander said: “We like that, we think it is typical Oxford graffiti – polite!”

The Arts at the Old Fire Station charity opened on George Street last October, as part of a £3.5m development which also turned the building into a Crisis Skylight education and training centre for the city’s homeless.

The Oxfordshire Artweeks exhibition is being run in conjunction with The Caravan Gallery, O3 Gallery, Oxford Castle Quarter, Crisis Skylight, Grandpont Children’s Centre and The Redbridge Travellers Women’s Group.

It forms part of a larger project being conducted by The Caravan Gallery, which aims to show a different side of Oxford.

Images will be turned into museum quality prints and displayed as part of Oxfordshire Artweeks from Friday, May 4, until Saturday, May 26.

Miss Alexander said: “It is a really nice opportunity for us and any emerging artists in the city.

“We’ll also have a people’s wall throughout the exhibition.”

The competition closes at noon on April 13. Download the rules from oldfirestation.info/ gallery.html.