Simon Roberts, the first photographer to be appointed election artist, will be touring the country by motorhome in the run-up to the May 6 national elections, equipped with a tripod and traditional plate camera.

Roberts is asking amateur photographers -- some of whose work will be included in his own official exhibition at the House of Commons after the election -- to send in their own favorite images.

"We already have a large number of illuminating and humorous images being uploaded," he said in a statement. "I hope that with the photographs taken by the public, on digital cameras or mobile phones, I can create an alternative photographic vision alongside my own."

Roberts said he himself would be looking not just at the three main parties, at big staged events, but also at lesser known hopefuls, and the way potential voters are interacting with them.

Roberts has been commissioned by the Speaker's Advisory Committee on Works of Art.

There have been two previous election commissions. Jonathan Yeo's "Proportional Representation" was a series of three portraits of the party leaders, painted for the 2001 election.

In 2005, David Godbold's "Forward not Backward" was a series of 18 drawings. However, he later claimed there had been attempts to censor his work and that he would not work for parliament again.

Works of Art Committee chairman Hugo Swire said: "Since the days of Hogarth, elections have provided artists with a rich source of inspiration.

"This is the first time we have commissioned a photographer to follow the election and we are therefore very excited about what Simon Roberts is going to produce.