A former regional press photographer has released a collection of his most striking images in a new book.

Graham Gough, left, worked for newspapers in the Midlands and West Country for nearly 50 years, spending much of that time at Wolverhampton’s Express and Star until he left in 2000.

His best images from the Black Country and Worcestershire have now been brought together in a book called The Black Country Album: 50 years of Events, People and Places, published by The History Press.

The glossy publication contains black and white images of historic events, extreme weather, riots and visits to the area by Royalty, politicians and celebrities.

Graham said: “All human life is in this book, its not Fifty Shades of Grey, its Fifty Shades of the Black Country.”

Those whose images appear in the book include Princess Anne, the Queen, Cilla Black, Glenda Jackson, Hugh Grant, Jeffrey Archer, Tony Blair and it also includes two rarely seen pictures of Lenny Henry, when he was at school and in The Black and White Minstrel Show.

Graham’s career started as a trainee photographer with the Dudley Herald Series in 1954 and he also worked for the Devonshire Press in Torquay and then the Daily Mirror Group in the South West, before joining the Express and Star in the 1970s.

Since leaving the regional daily in 2000, he has concentrated mainly on landscape photography for the tourist industry and illustrating books and magazines.

Graham’s book is available in High Street bookshops, Amazon and from The History Press.