Papers of Bert Hardy (1913-1995), photojournalist and photographer

The collection covers Hardy's career as a photojournalist and photographer, as well as his later life, personal papers, and writings by and about Hardy.

Documents relating to his early career include photograph prints and cuttings, as well as papers from his time in the Army Film and Photographic Unit. His career at Picture Post and Hulton Press is documented, including correspondence, photograph prints, and other various documents and ephemera. Much of the collection relates to Hardy's work in advertising photography, including negatives and contact prints of images taken for adverts, as well as printed adverts and other photograph prints.

Papers from his later life largely relate to exhibitions of his photographs, lectures, and interviews, and also include correspondence mostly concerning Hardy's career and photographs.

The collection also includes a series of personal papers (including correspondence and diaries), a series of writings by Hardy (including articles and papers relating to his autobiography), and a series containing writings and publications about Hardy and his work (including press cuttings, articles, and an unpublished manuscript).

Albert William Thomas Hardy (19 May 1913-3 July 1995) was a British photojournalist and advertising photographer.

Born in London, Hardy left school at 14 and began working for the Central Photographic Service, collecting and delivering film for processing. Here, he learnt how to develop film and started to teach himself photography. At [16], he joined a cycling club and started taking photographs for The Bicycle magazine and other publications.

At 23, Hardy began his career in press photography working for the General Photographic Agency, initially taking non-news photographs for newspapers and magazines. Hardy then set up his own agency, and continued selling photographs to publications, eventually joining Picture Post in 1940 on a freelance basis as a staff photographer.

In 1942, Hardy was called up to the Army and joined the newly created Army Film and Photographic Unit. During the Second World War, he photographed soldiers rescued during the D-Day landings arriving in England, the liberation of Paris in 1944, the Army crossing the Rhine, and Belsen [camp] after liberation. In 1945, he was sent to Ceylon, at the time the base of Lord Mountbatten, and returned to England as a civilian in 1946.

After his return, the editor of Picture Post, Tom Hopkinson, offered him a full time position as a photographer at Picture Post where he photographed stories at home and abroad, photographing subjects from politicians and celebrities to slums in Britain and girls on Blackpool Promenade. Hardy photographed a number of stories about wars, significantly the Korean War and Inchon Landing. Hardy and writer James Cameron’s coverage of mistreatment of prisoners of war by South Korean forces was suppressed by the publisher, Sir Edward Hulton, causing Tom Hopkinson to be fired when he persisted with the story.

Hardy stayed at Picture Post until its closure in 1957, then continued taking photographs for Hulton Press. By 1959, he had moved into advertising photography, photographing for companies including BP, Strand Cigarettes, Kellogg’s, and Lucozade. During this period, his son Terry worked with him as a photographer, while his son Michael was a press photographer with the Daily Express.

In 1964, Hardy and his second wife Sheila bought a small farm in Surrey where he lived during retirement. He continued to give lectures about photography and published his autobiography, ‘Bert Hardy: My Life’, in 1985.

This archive contains personal data regarding living individuals. This data is subject to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Data Protection Act 2018. Access to original documents is permitted upon completion of a Data Protection Declaration. Photography of original documents containing personal data is not permitted. Where personal data is not present, photography is permitted only upon completion of a Copyright Declaration, confirming your intention to use the images under an exemption for private research and study. It is your responsibility to seek and obtain the copyright holder's permission to reproduce images for purposes other than private research.