Sheila Hardy: Preserving the Legacy of Bert Hardy and Grove Hardy
In 2007, as the long-running photographic lab Grove Hardy prepared to close after nearly fifty years in business, Martin Reed—owner of photographic supplier Silverprint—recorded a rare and insightful interview with Sheila Hardy, widow of Picture Post photographer Bert Hardy. Joined by his wife Janice and Grove Hardy’s last printer, Charles Keeble, Martin captured a vital piece of photographic history as the lab faced closure following Keeble’s retirement.
Grove Hardy had been a cornerstone of London’s post-war photo scene, founded in the late 1950s by Bert Hardy and master printer Gerry Grove. This interview offers a unique glimpse into the legacy of both the lab and the Hardy archive. The recording was passed to me in 2024 by photographer Geoff Howard, a long-time Grove Hardy customer, who had originally received it from Martin Reed in 2008. It remains a valuable document of a time, a place, and the quiet winding-down of a great photographic institution.
Below are some reference notes with times from the interview which may help the listener understand some of the interviews context:
2007 interview by Martin Reed and Sheila Hardy, Charles Keeble
3.55 start talking about “that book” - this is the Bert Hardy autobiography, published by Gordon
Fraser in 1985
6.40 Sheila starts talking about the picture of the Queen’s visit to the Paris Opera, made from
joining pictures from 15 negatives. In the book, this is discussed on p171-173, and the key and
explanation is at the end of the book under “Technical Notes”
12.52 Patrick Ward, photographer
13.15 talking about the film “Blow Up”; Don McCullin did the “doss-house” pictures at the
beginning of the film
16.55 Edith Kaye - did she print for Lord Snowden?
18.03 she worked for Wallace Heaton. They were in business as a photographic supplier 1917 -
1972, when taken over by Dixons. They had a Royal Warrant, as suppliers to the Queen, etc.
21.06 Alex Lowe, photographer
22.58 “Sharon at our place” - Martin is talking about Sharon Easterling, a printer at Downtown
Darkroom, which was above the Silverprint trade-counter. Downtown started at Mount Pleasant
(next door to Process Supplies), by Mike Spry and Vic Hemmings. At 26.31 timing ”Sharon was
never interested in photographing”
26.01 “Gerry died in 1982” - is this correct? I thought it was in the 1970s
29.06 “no grades, very very thin” paper - is this the “Air-Mail weight paper, introduced to reduce
weight of air-mail letter enclosures?
30.16 “check the number of sheets used”; this certainly happened as a check for Purchase Tax;
how many sheets of paper did you buy, and how many have you invoiced for? The inspectors
didn’t realise that there was wastage, as not every print made was correct ... I was asked about
this in 1971
31.04 using bulk film, loading film into metal cassettes, eg Leica, Contax. Check when Kodak
started to sell already-loaded cassettes; I think pre-war
32.13 Bunker Hunt, American, tried to corner the world silver market c1979 - 1985; price of film
rocketed; he ultimately failed and was bankrupted
36.48 Paul Knights, printer at Grove Hardy. Printed my Japanese exhibition in 1991. He wanted
to be a photographer, and left to travel, went to Thailand
37.45 Charles is mis-remembering about me and Homer Sykes. Also, Homer younger than
Patrick Ward, not same generation
40.20 Kurt Hutton, German photographer, refugee from Nazis; original staff at Picture Post. Wife
Gretel printed his work
44.56 R G Lewis did check every camera above a certain price; they shot a short length of film,
and Mr Mason (editor of Amateur Photographer magazine) checked it with a microscope; I
bought my first serious camera there (a Konica S2) and still have the negatives, delivered in the
box with the camera
49.43 Gene Smith’s funeral picture? Really?
52.05 Sally Soames, photographer, worked for The Sunday Times 1937 - 2019
52.49 Marketa Luskacova, Czech photographer “used to drive us crazy, great photographer, but
a difficult person”
58.48 Charles talking of photographer “Mahler”?, photographing in a street in Chelsea - is he
thinking of Roger Mayne, photographing in Notting Hill
1.00.08 “Godfrey” is photographer Godfrey Thurston Hopkins; his friends knew him as Godfrey
1.01.40 Prince Phillip dancing with Ava Gardner at a cabaret; Bert only photographer “the
negatives had to be destroyed”. Now there’s a story ...
1.06.35 The “Strand” cigarette advertisement was shot in 1959
1.09.31 the Arts Council books, published by Gordon Fraser in 1977 were a series of
photographic monographs; Bert Hardy, George Rodger, Thurston Hopkins, Bill Brandt; a second
series consisted of Roger Fenton, P H Emerson and Frank Sutcliffe
1.11.58 “the enlargers” refers to the 2 Leitz enlargers from the Grove Hardy / Bert Hardy
Darkroom, gifted to Martin Reed in 2007
Bert Hardy
The late Bert Hardy was a London-born photographer Bert Hardy (1913-1995, UK) was a seminal English documentary and press photographer known for his work as chief photographer for Picture Post magazine. Born into a working class family in Blackfriars, Hardy worked his way up from a lab assistant to become a photographer. His street photography, most famously a photo of two boys off on a lark in Gorbals, reflects his sincere interest in people’s lives. On assignment he travelled widely as a photojournalist and captured significant events and personalities of the day. Three of his photographs were part of Edward Steichen’s groundbreaking exhibitionThe Family of Man at MoMA in 1955. Today his work is part of major UK and International collections. (Source: The Photographer Gallery)
Obituary - The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/media/2009/mar/10/bert-hardy-obituary-fleet-street
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bert_Hardy
ThePhotographer Gallery: https://thephotographersgallery.org.uk/whats-on/bert-hardy-photojournalism-war-and-peace
Getty: https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/search/2/image?family=editorial&phrase=bert%20hardy%20&sort=best
Cardiff University: https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/community/our-local-community-projects/innovation-for-all/2023-projects/bert-hardy-archive-opening-up-a-photojournalist-collection-to-communities,-culture-and-new-partnerships
Grove Hardy Getty: https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/search/2/image?family=editorial&phrase=Bert%20Hardy%27s%20Darkroom
British Photo History: https://britishphotohistory.ning.com/profiles/blogs/meeting-and-photographing-picture-post-s-bert-hardy-researched
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