Bert Hardy Archive: Opening up a Photojournalist Collection to Communities, Culture and New Partnerships

Transforming research, education and public interaction with archives and special collections at Cardiff University.

London-born Bert Hardy (1913-1995) was an influential press and social documentary photographer. Hardy worked as both a combat photographer and an advertising photographer during his unparalleled career – from a news and sports photographer, to serving combat cameraman, renowned Picture Post photojournalist and successful advertising entrepreneur. He is celebrated for his powerful depictions of everyday life across Britain, including the vibrant communities of multicultural London and Tiger Bay in Cardiff.

Thanks to the Bert Hardy Estate, the archive of this celebrated British photojournalist is now held by Special Collections and Archives at Cardiff University. The archive contains over 100 treasures including includes press passes, correspondence, diaries and original publications, as well as camera equipment.

Led by the School of Journalism, Media and Culture, this project secured the acquisition of this important collection by sorting, cataloguing, digitising and creating granular archival descriptions of the Bert Hardy archive. This enables sharing of the archive globally via JISC’s Archives Hub (an online discovery platform facilitating access to the archives of over 380 UK institutions), as well as Archives Portal Europe.

This project provided, for the first time, a public record of the holdings of this famous photojournalist who documented life in Britain and around the globe in the mid-twentieth century. It provide the means for curators, educators and members of the public to access this important historical material previously held privately, uncatalogued and inaccessible.

The acquisition of the collection will strengthen the university’s contribution to Amgueddfa Cymru’s 2025 planned exhibition to tell the story of Picture Post alongside existing holdings from Special Collections.