As featured in People, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and The Guardian 'For decades Philip Sharkey modestly ruled the London roost of passport and visa photography: the greatest, most trusted and admired practitioner in the field. Those lucky enough to have come before Philip’s lens always left feeling that we had participated in a ritual that elevated us to a special kind of club. This wonderfully produced memoir vividly brings back to life a vanished time in the capital. Delicious.’ – Stephen Fry A never-before-seen archive of 300 celebrity portraits from London’s iconic Passport Photo Service, where actors, writers, musicians, athletes, and other famous faces posed for their travel document photographs Since opening its doors in 1953, Passport Photo Service, an unassuming studio on Oxford Street in London, photographed thousands of people for passports, visas, and green cards – and some of them just happened to be famous. It was a family affair run by professional boxer turned photographer Dave Sharkey, his wife, Ann, and, eventually, their son Philip. Conveniently located near the US embassy and directly opposite the department store Selfridges, Passport Photo Service became the go-to place for passport photos thanks to word-of-mouth and its 'Ready in 10 Minutes' slogan, offering instant service before anyone else in the city was able to provide such a quick turnaround. This charming book is a collection of more than 300 never-before-published portraits taken over the course of six decades, including actors, writers, musicians, politicians, athletes, and more. Organized loosely alphabetically, Passport Photo Service includes such famous faces as Muhammad Ali, Shirley Bassey, Eric Clapton, John Cleese, Joan Collins, Sean Connery, Anton Corbijn, Tim Curry, Daniel Day-Lewis, Michelle Dockery, Stefan Edberg, Mia Farrow, Tom Ford, Stephen Fry, Ava Gardner, J. Paul Getty, Althea Gibson, Chrissie Hynde, Mick Jagger, Angelina Jolie, Chaka Khan, Little Richard, Ma
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