A CENTURY of life in Kent is being brought sharply into focus by a new exhibition of photographs in Maidstone. All 60 of the images in Kent County Council's Photojournalism: 100 Years of Life in Kent, have been loaned from the huge archive amassed by the Kent Messenger Group during the course of the 20th century.

Through the lenses of countless KMG photographers, the exhibition, in the County Gallery, County Hall, paints a vivid picture of a county gripped by change but still firmly rooted in its rural heritage. The exhibition runs until Friday, March 8.

Many of the photos capture significant moments in the history of Kent and the lives of its residents: for example a picture taken from the front page of the East Kent Mercury on September 28, 1989, showing defiant Royal Marines bandsmen playing on, just days after the IRA bombing of the School of Music in Deal. The tragedy claimed the lives of 11 bandsmen.

Another, from 1968, captures the tension at the entrance to Chatham Dockyard at the height of the dockers' strike.

In some ways the photographs provide a commentary of social and political history - a family of Ugandan refugees can be seen arriving in West Malling, near Maidstone, in 1972, after being expelled from their home country by Idi Amin. One of the most striking and poignant images is of a demonstration of gas protection suits for babies in Barming, near Maidstone, during the Second World War.

Kent County Council arts officer Victoria Danville was given access to the Kent Messenger Group's photograph archive at the company head office in New Hythe Lane, Larkfield, to compile the exhibition.

She said: "Everyone loves looking through old photographs and the number of photos is just unbelievable. I could have spent weeks down there."

A number of workshops for schoolchildren have been devised to complement the exhibition and a workstation within the gallery will challenge the way that people look at newspaper photographs. Many of the images have been drawn from books published by the Kent Messenger Group. One of them, Kent: Our Century By The People Who Lived It will be on sale at the exhibition.

Kent author and historian Bob Ogley will breathe life into the photographs at a talk at the County Gallery at County Hall, on Wednesday, March 6, starting at 7.30pm. The hour-long talk, entitled 100 Years of Life in Kent and will be followed by a question and answer session. Tickets can be booked by telephoning 01622 696464.