David Prentice says the project attempts to capture the passage of light across the globe. Photo: Eva Evguenieva.

The Auckland Festival of Photography has kicked off with the show 1 Day/6 Cities, in which photographers in six different cities depict the daily life of ordinary people through their lenses.

On November 11, 2011, photographers based in London, Dubai, Shanghai, Auckland, San Francisco and Sao Paulo photographed the cities every 30 seconds for 24 hours – their work was edited into time-lapsed films and will be exhibited in each of the cities alongside a selection of stills.

Festival director Julia Durkin, who is also one of the 17 New Zealand artists involved, says the project is an amazing representation of life on Earth.

“The films show the passage of light through the globe and all around the world over 17, 280 photographs were taken on that one project,” she says.

New Zealand photographer David Prentice, who also took part, says he chose the Parnell Market as his location.

“The reason I chose that is because it’s something local and everyday.

“It is all about people moving and interacting and that’s the whole thing with time lapse – all these individual aspects come together as a film, you see all this movement and that is what makes it extraordinary.”

The exhibition will run until June 22, at Northcote Art Gallery.