Faces of ordinary people photographed and filmed in the first half of the 20th century are the focus of two new exhibitions opening at York Castle Museum.

We Are The People - Postcards From The Collection Of Tom Phillips is a touring exhibition of postcard portraits from the National Portrait Gallery; The Way We Were features film footage of everyday life, as seen in the ITV Yorkshire series of the same name.

We Are The People, on show until July 31, presents nearly 1,000 portrait photographs in postcard form collected by artist Tom Phillips over a quarter of a century.

These people come from every walk of life and every level of society: babies, bathers, scouts, soldiers, mothers, nurses, policemen, shopkeepers, tradesmen, barmaids, fishermen; on picnics, in gardens, on bicycles, in charabancs, by aspidistras, in school rooms, round maypoles, on playing fields, in uniform.

The Way We Were, running until December 31, presents footage of Yorkshire events, traditions, working lives, schooldays and the war effort, from the Yorkshire Film Archive, now based in York.

Half-term fun activities to accompany We Are The People include Fantasy Photography on February 7 to 9 and 16 to 18, when you can meet Professor Lenzkapp and have your photograph taken in goggles and Edwardian driving gear (photographs £2 each). In the Making Faces sessions from February 10 to 15, you can make your own mask based on characters from the postcards and take part in the Spot the Face trail around the galleries.

York Castle Museum is open daily, 9.30am to 5pm.

Updated: 15:23 Thursday, February 03, 2005