Photographer Alan Van Wijgerden captures Coventry through the decades

"How many photographs have I got?" ponders Alan Van Wijgerden. "I think there's about quarter of a million at a guess."

The photographer was given his first camera aged 12, and more than 50 years later is still snapping.

His inspiration is often his hometown of Coventry, capturing the 1980s zeitgeist with CND marches, racial tensions and education cuts.

"I'm not happy unless I've got a project," Mr Van Wijgerden, 65, said.

His work was exhibited at the Coventry Biennial last year, where he presented a series of images he took of squats in the city in 1982.

The decade provided a lot of inspiration for Mr Van Wijgerden when he was a student.

Among his images are shots of clashes between the skin heads and the anti-fascist league, as well as demonstrations by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.

More recently, he photographed a number of events during Coventry's year as City of Culture.

Now retired, the former IT technician has also turned his hand to film, making dozens for his social media profiles.

He said he has no plans to hang up his camera and "has to be doing something".

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