Alfie Ordinary

From the series 'The Brighton Ton', shot on location in the Royal Pavilion.
Exhibited at 9 Queens Road Brighton for Artists Open Houses 2026.

In Regency England, the ton – drawn from the French le bon ton, meaning good style and good manners – was the name given to the ruling class of high society. Wealthy aristocrats who set the standards for fashion, behaviour and social standing. Those who decided who belonged and who did not.

Brighton has always had a complicated relationship with that world. The Prince Regent brought his court here, and with it all the rituals of inclusion and exclusion that defined the era. But Brighton also became something else: a place where the rules bent, where the unconventional found room to breathe.

The Brighton Ton reclaims that title. The personalities photographed here are the arbiters of a different kind of style – one built not on wealth or bloodline, but on authenticity, courage and the refusal to disappear. They set no dress codes and impose no season. What they share is the quality that le bon ton always claimed to prize, but rarely practised: the confidence to be exactly who you are.

This is Brighton society. On its own terms.

(printed artwork will not have the watermark)