The work of photographer Bert Hardy is celebrated in a new show at The Photographers’ Gallery in London.
‘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.’
These are the words — the philosophy, really — of renowned photojournalist Bert Hardy, who catalogued life at home and abroad in a career that spanned four decades.
Hardy’s work is the subject of a new retrospective which opens today — February 23, 2024 — and runs until June 2 at The Photographers’ Gallery, London W1.
US Marines in amphibious assault craft moving towards Inchon in the first counter-attack of the Korean War, during a heavy bombardment of coastal defences by warships and aircraft. Assault Craft, 1950. Images provided by Getty Images Archive, home of the Picture Post collection, in support of Bert Hardy: Photojournalism in War and Peace.
Born in Blackfriars in central London in 1913, the self-taught Hardy started out as a lab assistant before becoming a sports photographer.
He went on to become a well-respected and influential press and documentary photographer, chronicling life with social documentary work across mid-century Britain and European conflicts. ‘Everywhere I look, and most of the time I look, I see photographs,’ he once explained.
22nd September 1951: A baby being carried to a farm for a seasonal hop picking holiday in the Kent countryside. Easy Journey, 1951. Images provided by Getty Images Archive, home of the Picture Post collection, in support of Bert Hardy: Photojournalism in War and Peace.
Many of his images came to define later views of the Blitz spirit of 1940, not least his shots of children playing in the rubble of war; and his seaside scenes from the 1950s encapsulated the nation’s emergence from the darkest hour.
Two boys in the Gorbals tenements area of Glasgow. The Gorbals tenements were built quickly and cheaply in the 1840s, but conditions were appalling, overcrowding was standard and sewage and water facilities inadequate. By the time this photograph was taken in 1948, 850 tenements had been demolished. Gorbals Boys, 1948. Images provided by Getty Images Archive, home of the Picture Post collection, in support of Bert Hardy: Photojournalism in War and Peace.
He enjoyed a long collaboration with Tom Hopkinson, editor of the photography-led publication Picture Post, who described Hardy as ‘the nearest to an all-round cameraman I ever worked with.’
Spivs, 1954. Images provided by Getty Images Archive, home of the Picture Post collection, in support of Bert Hardy: Photojournalism in War and Peace.(Photo by Picture Post/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
The exhibition at The Photographers’ Gallery includes plenty of material from his work at Picture Post, but also uses photographs taken during his time in the Army Film and Photographic Unit, including imagery from the Allied push into France in June 1944, and later the liberation of Bergen-Belsen. He also won awards for his work in the Korean War before moving in to commercial work when Picture Post closed in 1957.
Bert Hardy: Photojournalism in War and Peace runs until June 2, 2024, at The Photographers’ Gallery, London W1. Tickets cost £8/£5, though the exhibition is free after 5pm on Fridays. See more details at thephotographersgallery.org.uk
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