My ‘Brighton & Hove AM/PM’ photography project began in late September 2019. With no real plan for the project’s direction it grew steadily into a series of images, documenting one season drifting into the next.

I have lived close to the beach in Hove for just over four years and share an equally divided passion for both the sea and for the mountains. The rolling South Downs act as my ‘mountain range’. The sea is in complete contrast to the city of Brighton & Hove. The land buzzes with its manufactured sounds, sights and smells and the sea laps against it as it has done for centuries. However, unlike many other UK cities, it is possible to quickly escape the sensory overload with just a few paddle strokes in a southerly direction in a kayak.

The exploration side of the project began with my interest in the west pier. Opened in 1866, it was the first pier to be Grade I listed in Britain and a concert hall was added in 1916, which was extremely popular. A relic of times gone by, the west pier was formally closed in 1975 due to upkeep costs and fell into disrepair. Fire finally removed any hope of restoration in 2003. It has been gradually collapsing into the sea ever since. It now continues to watch over my Brighton neighbours do on, in or beside the water. The coast itself is an ever-changing seascape and so too are its visitors. Autumnal surfers, kite surfers, paddle boarders and wild swimmers out in at times questionable conditions.