A photographer has been given almost £3,000 to take pictures of Southend call centres from the same arts body which refused to save the Palace Theatre.
East England Arts - a publicly funded company - rejected a £200,000 plea in June this year, to save Westcliff's Palace Theatre from closure.
However, now the arts body has given £2,620 to John Perkins, a 29-year-old freelance photographer from London.
He plans to spend seven months taking photos which "capture the atmosphere" of call centres in Southend.
Tory West Shoebury councillor Verina Weaver, who is on the Palace Theatre Trust board, said: "There seems to be a huge gulf between what the public want from the arts and the projects which are actually commissioned by the esoteric institutions who dole out funding.
"While that gulf exists we are not going to get the funding we need for many things. This means that mediums such as the theatre die a death, which is a great shame really."
The photographer, Mr Perkins, says he got the idea for the unlikely project while working in call centres himself.
The project will culminate in an exhibition of the photos at a gallery in Southend in summer 2003.
East England Arts refused to comment on reasons to grant or deny individual awards.
Published Thursday August 22, 2002
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