NEARLY 40 years ago, Tenby teenager Alun Crockford bought himself a camera and went down to the town's harbour to photograph its life and people.

Now an award-winning photographer, Alun has gone back to his roots with a new exhibition at Tenby Museum and Art Gallery.

Entitled The Season, it's a collection of black-and-white images of harbour and town personalities and scenes, shot in 1979.

Alun is now listed as one of the world's top advertising photographers by Archive magazine, with Waitrose, Lloyds, Sony, The Guardian, Boots, Martini and Texaco among his clients.Of his early work in the town where his family have a long seafaring tradition, he says: "It was never intended as anything but a record of the day-to-day events, but with the interminable march of time, the pictures appeared to have transformed to a heartfelt memory of times passed.

"If the sun shone brighter; the crowds bigger; the queues longer or the sea warmer is all a matter of conjecture. For me, the abiding memory is the people; the character and warmth of the community; the stories, some factual (mostly not!); the lives led and the care taken with others which made this the best of all places to be born and bred."The exhibition was opened on Friday by Tenby-born actor Josh Richards, and runs until December 21.

Said museum curator Mark Lewis: "“This is a wonderful snapshot of one season for the families that live and work around Tenby’s bustling harbour. Alun has a real eye for detail and his passion for his subject shines though. It is a fascinating exhibition, filled with local interest."

Tenby Museum and Art Gallery is open from Tuesday to Saturday between 10am and 4pm. Pay once and visit all year.