In 1953, Dave Sharkey, a former professional boxer, and his wife, Ann, founded a photographic studio on Oxford Street in London. The studio promised prints 'ready in 10 minutes' long before anyone else in the city could provide such a quick turnaround. Conveniently located near the US embassy and Selfridges, the studio—eventually taken over by the couple's son, Philip—became a bustling crossroads for artists, actors, musicians, and athletes, all seeking passport photos.
A Who's Who of Cultural Icons
Muhammad Ali, Bianca and Mick Jagger, David Hockney, Tilda Swinton, and many more sat for their passport photos at Sharkey's. The studio's clientele spanned decades and genres, from boxers to rock stars, actors to activists.
The book Passport Photo Service, published by Phaidon Press, features more than 300 celebrity portraits from the 1950s to the 2010s. All photographs are © Philip Sharkey/Phaidon.
Notable Portraits
- Bianca Jagger, activist, 1 June 1976, and Mick Jagger, musician, 1 June 1976
- David Hockney, artist, 22 June 1965 and 21 January 1970
- Nancy Spungen, 10 August 1978, and Poly Styrene, musician, 28 October 1997
- Dudley Moore, actor, 30 November 1967 and 28 January 1975
- Tilda Swinton, actor, 18 May 2013, and Vincent Cassel, actor, 10 October 2015
- Alec Guinness, actor, 1975, and Ben Kingsley, actor, 15 October 1992
- Leslie Caron, actor and dancer, 1960s, and Pattie Boyd, model, 1960s
- Sting, musician, 3 May 2006, and Van Morrison, musician, 26 November 1988
- Joan Collins, actor, 13 July 1971 and 31 October 1979
- Marty Feldman, actor, 9 January 1969, and Ava Gardner, actor, 16 September 1976 and 2 April 1987
- Sean Connery, actor, 14 September 1977 and 15 May 1982
- Christiane Amanpour, journalist, 15 October 2002, and Kate Winslet, actor, 2 October 1997 (taken for her character in the film Hideous Kinky)
- Muhammad Ali, boxer, 11 June 1974
The studio's legacy endures as a unique archive of cultural history, capturing the faces of fame in the most mundane yet essential format: the passport photo.
