Bert Hardy

Bert Hardy 

Bert Hardy (19 May 1913 — 3 July 1995) was a documentary and press photographer known for his work published in the Picture Post magazine between 1941 and 1957.

Bert Hardy rose from humble working class origins in Blackfriars, the eldest of seven children. He left school at age 14 to work for a chemist who also processed photos. His first big sale came when he photographed King George V and Queen Mary in a passing carriage, and sold 200 small prints of his best view of the King. Hardy freelanced for The Bicycle magazine, and bought his first small-format Leica 35 mm. He signed on with the General Photographic Agency as a photographer, then found his own freelance firm Criterion.

In 1938 Hardy became one of the first photographers to use a Leica 35mm camera. After working as a freelance until being recruited by Tom Hopkinson, the editor of Picture Post. Hardy became famous for his photographs of the Blitz .

Maidens in Waiting, Blackpool, 1951 (Bert Hardy/Getty)

Having written an article for amateur photographers suggesting that you didn’t need an expensive camera to take good pictures, Hardy staged a carefully posed photograph of two young women sitting on railings above a breezy Blackpool promenade using a Box Brownie in 1951, a photograph which has since become an iconic image of post-war Britain

Chelsea Party 1952

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 British sailors taking shore leave on Gibraltar visit the Suiza Bar to watch a Spanish dancer perform. (Bert Hardy/Getty)

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Wedding Procession -Queen Elizabeth

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Hardy’s work in the Gorbals area of Glasgow was particularly poignant and reflected his working class origins,as well as his sharp eye.

Children in the Gorbals, Glasgow, 1948

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Gorbals 1948

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Gorbals 1948

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Gorbal’s dogs 1948

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He photographed other street scenes in other cities…

Children in the East End of London after the Blitz 1946

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Sending children off to the countryside from war ravaged London (Paddington station) 1942

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Young evacuee on train 1942    © Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS

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Parson French searching for clothes with a child who was not sent out of London during the war.1940

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‘Millions like her…’  Birmingham 1951

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Choosing buttons Piccadilly 1953

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Too many spivs? 1954