More than 100 swimmers from across the UK took part in a one-off photo event on Sunday aimed at highlighting the plight of one of the Birmingham's most important community buildings.

The 100 Swimmers, a project by photographer Attilio Fiumarella, saw the empty Gala Pool at Moseley Road Baths in Balsall Heath filled with swimmers, photography fans, city heritage enthusiasts and community supporters; a reaction to the news that Birmingham City Council intends to close the historic building permanently in 2015.

Mr Fiumarella has been working to document the under-threat Grade-II Moseley Road Baths building over the past few months.

A final powerful and thought-provoking image emulating the famous Terracotta Army sculpture of Ancient China was captured, also completing a community photographic project entitled The Swimmers on show at the Old Print Works in Birmingham until Wednesday, July 23.

The Italian-born, Birmingham-based photographer, said: "Today's event was spectacular. We've had so many emails from people sharing stories of their lives and connections to the baths – from champion swimmers to people who worked here.

"We even had someone who travelled from the Isle of Wight to show their support today. Once the images of this amazing building are developed we look forward to sharing them with Birmingham and the world."

Mr Fiumarella is a recipient of the first Some Cities bursary scheme.

Some Cities is a UK social photography project which encourages residents and visitors to Birmingham to share images of people, places and events in the city via social media and the dedicated website www.some-cities.org.uk.

Since launching in November 2013, the project has amassed over 100,000 images on a wealth of subject matter around Birmingham.

New images can be emailed to Birmingham@some-cities.com or via Twitter, tagged with #Birmingham, #somecities and #brumfotos, and will form part of an ongoing extensive and authentic digital archive of life in the city.

The Some Cities initiative is supported by Arts Council England, the University of Birmingham, mac Birmingham and Birmingham City Council, and is managed by Birmingham-based photographers Andrew Jackson and Dan Burwood.