E. Chambré Hardman
Encyclopedia
Edward Fitzmaurice Chambré Hardman (1898 - April 2, 1988) was an Irish
photographer
.
. The only son of the keen amateur photographer Edward Hardman, E. Chambré Hardman took his first photographs aged nine and went on to win many photographic competitions during his time at St. Columba's College in County Dublin
.
From the age of eighteen, he spent four years as a regular officer in the Gurkha Rifles
in India
where he would eventually be promoted to lieutenant
. While on active duty at the foothills of the Himalayas
, he found time for photography using his Eastman Kodak
No. 3 Special camera and processed rolls of film in his bathroom.
Whilst stationed at the Khyber Pass
he met Captain Kenneth Burrell, a man who hadn't planned on an army
career but rather hoped to set up a photographic studio back home in Liverpool
, England
. Hardman and Burrell decided to go into business together and in 1923, Burrell & Hardman acquired 51a Bold Street
in Liverpool's fashionable commercial centre.
Starting the business was difficult, and Hardman resorted to selling and repairing wirelesses to subsidise the studio. Eventually the it gained a reputation for being the place for anyone with distinction in Merseyside
to be photographed by Burrell & Hardman.
In 1926 Chambré Hardman appointed seventeen year-old Margaret Mills as his assistant. At first, she would look after the studio in Hardman's absence when he was in the South of France that year.
In 1929 Margaret had left the studio to train as a photographer in Paisley, Scotland. Margaret and Hardman kept in touch through frequent affectionate letters. In the same year Kenneth Burrell left the business entirely to Hardman.
In 1930 Hardman was awarded 1st prize in the American Annual of Photography and a gold medal in London for his picture "Martigues" taken whilst in France in 1926.
While portraiture was Hardman's livelihood, his real photographic interest was landscape photography
, which he pursued throughout his life alongside his commercial practice.
The 1930s was a prolific period for Hardman's landscape photography, he said that "Most of my childish dreams were of landscapes; usually of some remote and spectacularly sired lake, which I could never find again."
In 1930, not long after Hardman and Margaret discuss starting a portrait business together, Margaret wrote to say she'd fallen in love with 'Tony'. Hardman's response was that she was too young and "that kind of love doesn't last". Hardman confessed to a friend that he'd "been a fool. I should have married her long ago but i had no money". Hardman didn't give up however and cabled his love from Barcelona. In May 1931, Margaret broke off her engagement to Tony. On August 10, 1932 Hardman married Margaret, he was aged 33 and her 23. They rented a flat at 59 Hope Street, Liverpool. They worked long hours at the studio but still found time for weekend expeditions, strapping camera equipment on to their bicycles and riding out into the countryside to shoot landscapes. Also in 1932 Hardman earned a contract with the Liverpool Playhouse theatre providing portraits and production shots of actors. Some of the actors photographed included Ivor Novello, Patricia Routledge and Robert Donat.
Hardman was elected a fellow of the Royal Photographic Society and took many landscape photographs in Scotland, as well as a portrait of Margot Fonteyn. In 1938 Hardman took over the lease of a second portrait studio based in Chester.
During the war years business seemed to thrive, although because of this Hardman's landscape photography suffered as he had no time. During the Second World War there was a black market in films but Hardman didn't get involved. The business thrived during the war because of the number of men going abroad wanting to have a picture of their family to take with them, or to leave a picture of themselves with their family. In 1941 the Hardman's moved to Barnston on the Wirral. They stayed there for seven years until the Bold Street studio lease expired. The Hardman's then moved to a grander premises at 59 Rodney Street
. This became their new studio and also their home for the rest of their lives.
In 1950 Hardman took what was to become "the most reproduced photograph illustrating and era of Liverpool's commerce" (Peter Hagerty p106), "Birth of the Ark Royal". By 1953 however it seemed the business was in uncertain times as there's evidence showing Hardman applying for other jobs including, work at the Bluecoat Society of Arts and Kodak. In the same year, Kenneth Burrell died aged 60.
In 1958 Hardman suffered further loss with the death of his mother. The lease on the Chester studio also ended.
In 1965/6 Hardman officially retired, but did continue to work by taking portraits for small commissions and taking evening classes for the Army. He also continued with some landscape photography, but he only employed part time staff as the fashion of the formal photograph waned. The contents of the property suffered increasing neglect, along with several pipe bursts causing chaos in many rooms in the house.
In 1969 Margaret took the well known photograph of Chambré Hardman behind the Rollerflex in his collar, tie and trilby. A year later Margaret died, Hardman not only lost his wife, but his business partner, photographic companion and a very skillful darkroom painter. Following her death Hardman declined. So much so, that he came to the attention of Liverpool's social services department. He became a recluse and worked less as time went by. He did however, continue to send exhibition prints to the London Salon.
In March 1975, an exhibition of Hardman's work titled 'Fifty Years of Photography' was displayed at the University of Liverpool. A year later Lancashire Life magazine did a feature article and profile of Hardman. Liverpool Daily Post recorded "140,000 negs. from 1925 handed over to Central Library". Hardman was described in the article as selling negatives from his collection to Liverpool's local history archive.
By 1979 Hardman made few excursions out of his home and found increasing difficulty in walking, suffering a fall. When Peter Hagerty, director of Liverpool's Open Eye Gallery, visited him, he said of the experience:
Exhibitions and articles of Hardman's work continued to be presented throughout the 80s and he was made an honourary fellow of the Royal Photographic Society
Throughout the 1980s, exhibitions of Hardman's work continued while he suffered long stays in hospital. On the 2nd April 1988, E. Chambré Hardman died at Sefton General Hospital in Liverpool. His house and studio, at 59 Rodney Street
, was taken over by the E. Chambré Hardman Trust in order to conserve his work which was later transferred to the National Trust
.
Liverpool Through the Lens: Photography of Edward Chambre Hardman (National Trust Books : 2007)
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
photographer
Photography
Photography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
.
Biography
E. Chambré Hardman was born in 1898 in Dublin, IrelandIreland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
. The only son of the keen amateur photographer Edward Hardman, E. Chambré Hardman took his first photographs aged nine and went on to win many photographic competitions during his time at St. Columba's College in County Dublin
County Dublin
County Dublin is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Dublin Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the city of Dublin which is the capital of Ireland. County Dublin was one of the first of the parts of Ireland to be shired by King John of England following the...
.
From the age of eighteen, he spent four years as a regular officer in the Gurkha Rifles
Gurkha Rifles
Gurkha Rifles may refer to any of a number of regiments of Gurkhas:* 1st King George V's Own Gurkha Rifles * 2nd King Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles * 3rd Queen Alexandra's Own Gurkha Rifles...
in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
where he would eventually be promoted to lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
. While on active duty at the foothills of the Himalayas
Himalayas
The Himalaya Range or Himalaya Mountains Sanskrit: Devanagari: हिमालय, literally "abode of snow"), usually called the Himalayas or Himalaya for short, is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau...
, he found time for photography using his Eastman Kodak
Eastman Kodak
Eastman Kodak Company is a multinational imaging and photographic equipment, materials and services company headquarted in Rochester, New York, United States. It was founded by George Eastman in 1892....
No. 3 Special camera and processed rolls of film in his bathroom.
Whilst stationed at the Khyber Pass
Khyber Pass
The Khyber Pass, is a mountain pass linking Pakistan and Afghanistan.The Pass was an integral part of the ancient Silk Road. It is mentioned in the Bible as the "Pesh Habor," and it is one of the oldest known passes in the world....
he met Captain Kenneth Burrell, a man who hadn't planned on an army
Army
An army An army An army (from Latin arma "arms, weapons" via Old French armée, "armed" (feminine), in the broadest sense, is the land-based military of a nation or state. It may also include other branches of the military such as the air force via means of aviation corps...
career but rather hoped to set up a photographic studio back home in Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. Hardman and Burrell decided to go into business together and in 1923, Burrell & Hardman acquired 51a Bold Street
Bold Street, Liverpool
Bold Street is a street in Liverpool, England. It is known for its cafés and for the Church of St Luke, which is situated at the top end. The bottom end leads into the area surrounding Clayton Square, which is part of the main retail district of central Liverpool. The bottom end contains more...
in Liverpool's fashionable commercial centre.
Starting the business was difficult, and Hardman resorted to selling and repairing wirelesses to subsidise the studio. Eventually the it gained a reputation for being the place for anyone with distinction in Merseyside
Merseyside
Merseyside is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 1,365,900. It encompasses the metropolitan area centred on both banks of the lower reaches of the Mersey Estuary, and comprises five metropolitan boroughs: Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Wirral, and the city of Liverpool...
to be photographed by Burrell & Hardman.
In 1926 Chambré Hardman appointed seventeen year-old Margaret Mills as his assistant. At first, she would look after the studio in Hardman's absence when he was in the South of France that year.
In 1929 Margaret had left the studio to train as a photographer in Paisley, Scotland. Margaret and Hardman kept in touch through frequent affectionate letters. In the same year Kenneth Burrell left the business entirely to Hardman.
In 1930 Hardman was awarded 1st prize in the American Annual of Photography and a gold medal in London for his picture "Martigues" taken whilst in France in 1926.
While portraiture was Hardman's livelihood, his real photographic interest was landscape photography
Landscape photography
Landscape photography is a genre intended to show different spaces within the world, sometimes vast and unending, but other times microscopic. This popular style of photography is practiced by professionals and amateurs alike. Photographs typically capture the presence of nature and are often free...
, which he pursued throughout his life alongside his commercial practice.
The 1930s was a prolific period for Hardman's landscape photography, he said that "Most of my childish dreams were of landscapes; usually of some remote and spectacularly sired lake, which I could never find again."
In 1930, not long after Hardman and Margaret discuss starting a portrait business together, Margaret wrote to say she'd fallen in love with 'Tony'. Hardman's response was that she was too young and "that kind of love doesn't last". Hardman confessed to a friend that he'd "been a fool. I should have married her long ago but i had no money". Hardman didn't give up however and cabled his love from Barcelona. In May 1931, Margaret broke off her engagement to Tony. On August 10, 1932 Hardman married Margaret, he was aged 33 and her 23. They rented a flat at 59 Hope Street, Liverpool. They worked long hours at the studio but still found time for weekend expeditions, strapping camera equipment on to their bicycles and riding out into the countryside to shoot landscapes. Also in 1932 Hardman earned a contract with the Liverpool Playhouse theatre providing portraits and production shots of actors. Some of the actors photographed included Ivor Novello, Patricia Routledge and Robert Donat.
Hardman was elected a fellow of the Royal Photographic Society and took many landscape photographs in Scotland, as well as a portrait of Margot Fonteyn. In 1938 Hardman took over the lease of a second portrait studio based in Chester.
During the war years business seemed to thrive, although because of this Hardman's landscape photography suffered as he had no time. During the Second World War there was a black market in films but Hardman didn't get involved. The business thrived during the war because of the number of men going abroad wanting to have a picture of their family to take with them, or to leave a picture of themselves with their family. In 1941 the Hardman's moved to Barnston on the Wirral. They stayed there for seven years until the Bold Street studio lease expired. The Hardman's then moved to a grander premises at 59 Rodney Street
59 Rodney Street
59 Rodney Street, Liverpool, Merseyside, England is a National Trust property and home of the "E. Chambré Hardman Studio, House & Photographic Collection"....
. This became their new studio and also their home for the rest of their lives.
In 1950 Hardman took what was to become "the most reproduced photograph illustrating and era of Liverpool's commerce" (Peter Hagerty p106), "Birth of the Ark Royal". By 1953 however it seemed the business was in uncertain times as there's evidence showing Hardman applying for other jobs including, work at the Bluecoat Society of Arts and Kodak. In the same year, Kenneth Burrell died aged 60.
In 1958 Hardman suffered further loss with the death of his mother. The lease on the Chester studio also ended.
In 1965/6 Hardman officially retired, but did continue to work by taking portraits for small commissions and taking evening classes for the Army. He also continued with some landscape photography, but he only employed part time staff as the fashion of the formal photograph waned. The contents of the property suffered increasing neglect, along with several pipe bursts causing chaos in many rooms in the house.
In 1969 Margaret took the well known photograph of Chambré Hardman behind the Rollerflex in his collar, tie and trilby. A year later Margaret died, Hardman not only lost his wife, but his business partner, photographic companion and a very skillful darkroom painter. Following her death Hardman declined. So much so, that he came to the attention of Liverpool's social services department. He became a recluse and worked less as time went by. He did however, continue to send exhibition prints to the London Salon.
In March 1975, an exhibition of Hardman's work titled 'Fifty Years of Photography' was displayed at the University of Liverpool. A year later Lancashire Life magazine did a feature article and profile of Hardman. Liverpool Daily Post recorded "140,000 negs. from 1925 handed over to Central Library". Hardman was described in the article as selling negatives from his collection to Liverpool's local history archive.
By 1979 Hardman made few excursions out of his home and found increasing difficulty in walking, suffering a fall. When Peter Hagerty, director of Liverpool's Open Eye Gallery, visited him, he said of the experience:
. Hardman accepted the suggestion from Hagerty that he should set up a trust subsequently deciding to bequeath the bulk of his estate.
"...this frail old man came down the stairs, there were four or five people from social services tidying up; they had gowns on and were filling bin bags with rubbish. I started looking in the bags and saw photographs and negatives and magazines; I was instantly aware that a historical record was being thrown away: he had made no provision for anything. He didn't think about dying. He had money but would not buy a home help. He'd rely on home help and then complain."
Exhibitions and articles of Hardman's work continued to be presented throughout the 80s and he was made an honourary fellow of the Royal Photographic Society
Throughout the 1980s, exhibitions of Hardman's work continued while he suffered long stays in hospital. On the 2nd April 1988, E. Chambré Hardman died at Sefton General Hospital in Liverpool. His house and studio, at 59 Rodney Street
59 Rodney Street
59 Rodney Street, Liverpool, Merseyside, England is a National Trust property and home of the "E. Chambré Hardman Studio, House & Photographic Collection"....
, was taken over by the E. Chambré Hardman Trust in order to conserve his work which was later transferred to the National Trust
National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty
The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, usually known as the National Trust, is a conservation organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland...
.
Famous photographs
Famous photographs of E. Chambre Hardman include:- A Memory of Avignon, 1923
- The Copse, 1934
- The Birth of the Ark Royal, 1950
Further reading
Chambre Hardman: Photographs 1921-1972 (National Museums & Galleries on Merseyside : 1994)Liverpool Through the Lens: Photography of Edward Chambre Hardman (National Trust Books : 2007)