For the first time in its history, the House of Commons has selected a photographer as its official election artist, commissioning Simon Roberts to document the campaign.

In the three weeks since the election was called, Roberts has travelled around the UK taking photographs with his 5×4 large format film camera, capturing the “relationship between the canvassing politicians and the voting public, with images from battle-buses and village greens, to polling stations and shopping centres”.

As with his previous work, We English, Roberts has been travelling in his motorhome. “I started in Westminster, before going to Bethnal Green and Bow, where George Galloway is stepping down as MP,” he tells BJP. “Then I moved to Harlow [in Essex], which has become a key marginal seat the Conservatives are vying for.”

Roberts’ goal is to deliver a series of 15 to 20 images that will become a national survey of the current political landscape. “I’m looking for each image to act as a different chapter, looking at different themes such as immigration, war, the expenses scandal and unemployment.”

He also wants to bring a different vision of what is, already, the most photographed election in British history. “I want to stay clear from the big choreographed photo opportunities the party leaders are involved with. I don’t want the kind of press images you see coming out of controlled events.” For example, he tells BJP that when the Conservatives released their manifesto, he was following a candidate waving flags at a junction next to the M11 motorway.

But the Election Project, as he calls it, is more than just one photographer’s vision of an important political event. Roberts has been asking for the public to participate by sending their own images – taken on digital compacts  or phones – to a website he’s created.

“I want to emphasise the collaborative nature of this project,” he says. “I want people to share their views on this election through the medium of photography. I can only provide an artistic snapshot of the event, but coupled with the public’s images I can create a historical archive of their perception of the elections.”

As BJP went to press, Roberts had already received more than 500 images from the public. “At the beginning, the tone of the images was quite negative, maybe because of the expenses scandal and the lack of trust, but also because of the British humour. Now, we’re getting a more balanced view, and I expect to get a lot more like this as the election nears.”

A selection of the public’s images will go on show in the House of Commons this summer, alongside Roberts’ portfolio of 20 large-format photographs.