2020 WAS a year like no other, but though so much has been lost, one schoolboy captured how the events of the last year unfolded in Brighton.

After seeing how photographers were using images to document the coronavirus crisis, Andrew Gardner, 14 from Hove, was inspired to pick up his camera.

Andrew took photographs of the coronavirus crisis and the Black Lives Matter marches in Brighton.

The Argus: Andrew photographed the Black Lives Matter marches in Brighton last year.Andrew photographed the Black Lives Matter marches in Brighton last year.

“I got on Twitter at the start of this year and I quite enjoy just looking at what was going on around the world and all of that,” he said.

“Curiosity drives everyone. To be able to look on Twitter and see what’s going on is very important.

“And then around March time the Council put up a bunch of signs along the seafront about coronavirus and social distancing, so I did a series of images documenting what is essentially a part of history.”

The Argus: The "We Want to Live" march in July 2020.The "We Want to Live" march in July 2020.

Andrew, who is currently studying for his photography GCSE at Cardinal Newman School in Hove, has now photographed many of the city’s significant events.

He said he was proud of the eye-catching images he took at last summer’s Black Lives Matter marches in Brighton and how they juxtaposed the photographs he took at last year’s anti-lockdown protests.

He said: “When you go into these things, I think it’s very important to approach them with impartiality and really just work out how you could tell that story in the best way possible.

The Argus: Andrew said it was important to capture the reality of what happened at the anti-lockdown protest in Brighton.Andrew said it was important to capture the reality of what happened at the anti-lockdown protest in Brighton.

“The Black Lives Matter protests were very much about showing the masses of people and the power whilst also telling the story in the best way I could.

“With the anti-lockdown ones, I think it was very important to show how these people obviously thought quite differently to the majority of people in the United Kingdom but to still ensure it was taken in a way that was respectful.

“The most important thing is to is always to document exactly what happened.”

The Argus: Andrew's image from the anti-lockdown protest in December last year.Andrew's image from the anti-lockdown protest in December last year.

Andrew said that his friends and family have been “hugely supportive” of his work, particularly his father, who is also a keen photographer and gave him his first camera at the age of nine.

He said: “I think my friends are interested in what I do – it’s something different.

“My family are all very supportive. My dad’s into landscape photography so it’s very different to what I do.

“We both drag each other out to different things at weekends and stuff.”

While photography is Andrew’s passion, he said that he does not have a clear career path he wishes to follow.

“I’m going to take it where the wind blows me really,” Andrew said.

To view Andrew’s work, follow him on Twitter @andrewgardnr

**All photos by Andrew Gardner**