An award-winning snapper has completed the “ambition of a lifetime” by travelling around the world and publishing a book about his experiences.

Gainsborough Standard photographer Chris Etchells’ travels took in Beijing, Iceland, Madrid, Valencia, Toledo, Hong Kong, Norway and Amsterdam.

Now he has self-produced a 120-page book entitled Around the World Via Gainsborough, which includes 109 pictures taken during the course of the 29-year-old’s 18 months abroad.

As well as the faraway locations listed above, the book also takes a look at Gainsborough – a little closer to Chris’s home where he has lived for the past ten years.

Said Chris: “Putting together my very own photographic book has always been a personal goal of mine.

“I wanted to convey how the average street differs from one country to the next, with strong emphasis on shapes, colour, texture and the often seen humour of everyday life – hopefully something very different to the work people have viewed before,” he said.

“I walk around my chosen destination with no preconceptions of what it is to capture. I see and experience my pictures – they are life as I see it.

“The book also includes pictures of Gainsborough, never seen before, which is a town very close to my heart,” added Chris, who is pictured with his book, above left.

Chris, originally from New Mills in Derbyshire, has worked for the Standard for the past decade. He won Professional Photographer Magazine’s Travel Photographer of the Year title in 2005/2006.

Around the World Via Gainsborough costs £14.99 and is available from www.chrisetchells.co.uk from Wednesday 24 September or by contacting Chris on: [email protected]