WARRINGTON Museum has given people early access to their up coming exhibition Every Picture Tells a Story, allowing art-lovers to mark Museum Selfie Day by posing with their favourite portrait in the collection.

Every Picture Tells a Story features very different portraits from across four centuries, however they all share something in common, that the person sitting for the painting is completely unknown.

While it is sad that the person in the portrait has been lost in history, museum manager Derek Dick sees this as a blank canvas, giving people the opportunity to create their own story.

Mr Dick said: “We have quite a few portraits in the collection where we don’t know who the person in the portrait is. We thought it would be fun to give people the chance to come up with identities for these people.”

Creative writing students at Priestley College have been using the collection to fuel their imagination but Mr Dick thinks everyone can join in.

He added: “Students at Priestley College have been using the paintings as inspiration. They have been writing poems or stories, CVs and even tweets.

"What we want is for people to read these stories and then write their own stories and send them in.

"It is just how people red or see paintings. There is no right or wrong answer.”

Thousands of people across the country took part in Museum Selfie Day today, Wednesday, and Mr Dick believes that is a great thing for museums.

He said: “I like the idea of a Museum Selfie Day. It helps draw attention to the museum and the amazing collections, so that’s got to be a good thing.

"Visitors consider what to include in their photograph and this means they are engaging with the collection, whether it is a painting, a mummy or a Roman actor’s mask.”

Every Picture Tells a Story will be open from Saturday to March 21.

By Liam Cotton