When Philippe Garner bought an old photograph of Brighton 30 years ago, he had no idea it would lead him on a journey back through time in his home city.

The print was the start of a photographic collection which tells a fascinating picture story of the city over 150 years.

Philippe has spent three decades seeking out images which capture the changing times and attitudes of the seaside resort from the 1840s to the 1990s.

Now his collection is about to receive its public premiere at Brighton Museum and Art Gallery.

The 150 original photographs range from beautifully-composed pictures taken by pioneering and celebrity photographers to every- day shots rattled off by beach snappers.

Philippe cannot remember which photograph started his collection. But there are two which shaped it.

The first is of Philippe's parents Albert and Angele taken on the promenade in 1947. The second was one of him and his wife Lucilla taken on the seafront in 1976.

Philippe said: "When I began collecting in the Seventies, I was quite voracious. I was so hungry to investigate the geographical, social and cultural roads that I tried to buy everything and I did it with considerable passion because it was a place I cared about.

"And the market in photographs was so much in its infancy I was paying trifling sums. What I have always looked for is the most beautiful print of the most beautiful image.

"When I was trying to give a shape to the collection, I realised if I made it more personal, people would put themselves in my shoes. So, the pictures of my parents and myself with my wife are the key to the whole thing."

Philippe was born in France but brought up in Brighton, attending Windlesham and Varndean Grammar Schools. He moved to London after getting a job with auctioneers Sotheby's. He was senior specialist in 20th Century decorative arts, design and photographs until last summer.

He has lost track of how many photographs he has in his collection, but it is into four figures.

He said: "When people ask which is my favourite, I tell them the 150 in the show are my favourites out of a great many."

His collection combines a social history of Brighton with the history of photography. The city's fashionable reputation and clear skies made it irresistible to photographic pioneers and many opened studios.

Philippe sources his pictures at auctions and through dealers.

"I set my heart on doing something with the museum and after 30 years, now felt the right time to do it."

Philippe is a keen amateur photographer and has included a few of his own pictures in the exhibition.

He said: "When I come to Brighton now I feel like a visitor. It doesn't mean I am any less fond of the place but I'm attached to a Brighton that has passed. Today's Brighton is part of the on-going story. There is a tendency to want to be romantic and freeze a place in a particular moment.

"In a way, through my collection, I have been able to time travel through Brighton back to 1840. It has different appeals at different times. If I had to choose a decade, I would go back to the earliest part of my collection when the town was small."

Naturally, Brighton's piers feature in the exhibition but Philippe did not shed tears over the recent devastating West Pier fire.

He said: "I wasn't sad to see the sub-structure burning but I would be very glad to see it restored and, in particular, to its original form in 1866 when it was an elegant piece of marine architecture."

Philippe set out to try to tell a complete picture story of the city from the 1840s.

He has also written a book to coincide with the exhibition.

"This will close a chapter for me but I hope it will be an inspiration for others. It would be great if someone began collecting from the 1990s where I left off."

A Seaside Album: Photographs and Memory runs from May 10 to October 8. Philippe will be at the museum to talk about his pictures on Tuesday June 17 from 1-2pm.

His book of the same name is published by Philip Wilson, priced £14.95, available from the museum.