Bert hardy photographer biography

English photographer

Albert William Thomas Hardy (19 May 1913 – 3 July 1995) was an English documentary and press photographer known for his work published in the Picture Post magazine between 1941 and 1957.

Life and work

Born in Blackfriars, Bert Hardy rose from humble working class origins in Southwark, London. 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 in 1936 when he photographed King George V and Queen Mary in a passing carriage during the Silver Jubilee celebrations, and sold 200 small prints of his best view of the King. His first assignment, at age 23, was to photograph Hungarian actor Sakall at the Mayfair Hotel. Hardy freelanced for The Bicycle magazine, and bought his first small-format 35 mm Leica. He signed on with the General Photographic Agency as a Leica photographer, later founding his own freelance firm, Criterion.

General Photographic Agency

General Photographic Agency a Fleet Street, London agency, sold photos at least between 1880-1950.

Picture Post and World War II

In 1941, Hardy was recruited by the then editor Tom Hopkinson of the leading picture publication of the 1930s to the 1950s, Picture Post. Founded in 1938 and funded by publisher Edward Hulton, the magazine's first editor was Hungarian émigré Stefan Lorant (1901–97) assisted by Hopkinson, who took over as editor from 1940. The picture-centric, left-leaning and reasonably-priced publication was highl

Bert Hardy was born in London in May of 1913, as the eldest of seven children in a working class family. He left school at the age of fourteen to work as a messenger, collecting and delivering film and prints from West End chemists for a film processing company. Captivated by photography and combining his interest in cycling, he began freelancing for The Bicycle magazine. There, he came into contact with the new miniature 35mm cameras. After buying a second-hand Leica, he worked for a photographic agency before being taken on as a staff photographer at the prestigious Picture Post magazine in 1940.

Hardy was called to join the Army's photographic unit, covering the Normandy Landings, the Allies march into Paris, the crossing into Germany, and the traumatic liberation of Belsen concentration camp. A highly gifted war photographer, he also covered news stories around the world. Hardy is best known for his warm and humane portrayal of everyday Britain. His assignment to capture life in the Gorbals of Glasgow was ground-breaking and was followed by further memorable photo-essays on the lives of ordinary people, often at the margins of society. 

Hardy's humanity is present throughout his long career with Picture Post. His natural ability to mix brought out the best in people. His talent places him amongst the best of twentieth century photographers. Hardy died at the age of 82 in 1995. 

Born in London to a working class family, Hardy started work as a laboratory assistant in a photographic agency, working freelance as a photographer.

As a photojournalist Bert Hardy was gifted with a sincere interest in people coupled with an ability to win the trust of those that he photographed. Hired as a staff photographer for the Picture Post, Hardy used his Leica to capture the slums of London and Glasgow, the Second World War and Korea. 

Hardy travelled widely, capturing the leading events and personalities of the day, as well as gaining acclaim for his pictures of deprived areas of Britain, including an award-winning series of photographs of life in Glasgow's Gorbals and London's Elephant and Castle.

As Hardy explained: "The ideal picture tells something of the essence of life. It sums up emotion, it holds the feeling of movement thereby implying the continuity of life. It shows some aspect of humanity, the way that the person who looks at the picture will at once recognise as startlingly true."

Bert Hardy died in 1995 and will be remembered as one of the classic photojournalists of the Twentieth Century. Even in the direst of situations, the endurance of the human spirit shines through in Hardy's images. His work deserves to be considered alongside that of his contemporaries, including the great masters of Magnum, including Robert Capa and Henri Cartier-Bresson.

Bert Hardy was born into poverty, the eldest of seven children. His family lived in two dingy rooms in the Elephant and Castle area of London. At the age of 13 Hardy left school for an errand-boy’s job in an engineering firm, but failed the interview. He finally found work at a film developing and printing works, and stayed with the company for nine years saving enough money to buy a Leica camera. In the early 1930s the influence of the German middle-European ‘miniature’ cameramen was being felt in England. Their pictures had ‘an atmosphere, an intimacy, a feeling of flowing life’ which was unknown to British photographers hampered and blinkered by their large-format press cameras.

Hardy was one of the first photographers in England to adopt the miniature for ‘serious’ reportage. He applied for a job as a Leica photographer with the General Photographic Agency in Fleet Street, later working for the Picture Post as a staff photographer. During the war he was called up with the Army Photographic Unit, serving in the Far East and, on demobilisation, returned to thePicture Post. He spent six weeks covering the Korean War and was probably the only photographer to obtain pictures of the landing at Inchon as, unlike other members of the press, Hardy could shoot 1/15 sec at fl.5 with his Leica miniature.