{"id":396982,"date":"2026-04-17T12:36:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T12:36:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/396982\/"},"modified":"2026-04-17T12:36:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T12:36:11","slug":"this-old-school-passport-photo-studio-built-up-an-incredible-collection-of-celebrity-portraits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/396982\/","title":{"rendered":"This Old School Passport Photo Studio Built Up an Incredible Collection of Celebrity Portraits"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>      <img data-perfmatters-preload=\"\" fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/249-winslet-copy-613x800.jpg\" alt=\"A black and white portrait of a woman with long dark hair, wearing a dark top, looking directly at the camera with a neutral expression against a plain background.\" width=\"613\" height=\"800\" class=\"size-large wp-image-849748\"  \/>Kate Winslet. Actor, 2 October 1997 (page 249). From Passport Photo Service, published by Phaidon Press <\/p>\n<p>Most photographers like a famous face in their portfolio; getting one is the hard part. While editorial photographers are most likely to cross paths with celebrities, photographer David Sharkey has built up an amazing collection through his passport photo service.<\/p>\n<p>Founded in 1953 on Oxford Street in London, the shop was situated conveniently close to the United States and Canadian embassies. It was known for its sign outside promising prints \u201cReady in 10 Minutes\u201d long before anyone else in the city was able to provide such a quick turnaround. <\/p>\n<p> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/015-a-dave-and-customer-copy-800x553.jpg\" alt=\"Two men pose in an office; one stands behind a counter with a typewriter, smiling, while the other sits beside him in a large coat. Posters behind them advertise photo enlargement and famous faces.\" width=\"800\" height=\"553\" class=\"size-large wp-image-849743\"  \/>Dave Sharkey, with customer, 1962. Courtesy Philip Sharkey (page 15, top) <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/060-1-connery-copy-800x407.jpg\" alt=\"Two black-and-white portraits of the same man at different ages: on the left, he is younger with dark hair and a mustache; on the right, he is older with a white beard and mustache, wearing a collared shirt and sweater.\" width=\"800\" height=\"407\" class=\"size-large wp-image-849745\"  \/>Sean Connery. Actor. 14 September 1977 (page 60) 15 May 1982 (page 61) From Passport Photo Service, published by Phaidon Press <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/235-twain-copy-619x800.jpg\" alt=\"A woman with long straight hair, wearing hoop earrings, a dark turtleneck, and a necklace with a pendant, smiles at the camera against a plain background. The image is in black and white.\" width=\"619\" height=\"800\" class=\"size-large wp-image-849747\"  \/>Shania Twain. Musician, 5 March 2003 (page 235). From Passport Photo Service, published by Phaidon Press <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/edition.cnn.com\/2026\/04\/07\/style\/passport-photo-studio-sharkey-london\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"follow external noopener nofollow\">According to CNN<\/a>, Sharkey began working at the shop when he was 16 years old. His mother, uncle, and father also worked there. The prints came out so fast thanks to the automatic Kodak Veribrom processor that could develop prints in under five minutes.<\/p>\n<p>Over the years, a parade of who\u2019s who has sat for Sharkey\u2019s camera, who gained a reputation for being able to deliver flattering passport photos. \u201cThose lucky enough to have come before Philip\u2019s lens always left feeling that we had participated in a ritual that elevated us to a special kind of club,\u201d says loyal customer Stephen Fry. <\/p>\n<p> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/JaggerM-671x800.jpg\" alt=\"A person with shaggy, medium-length dark hair and light skin is wearing a shiny, open-collared shirt, looking directly at the camera with a neutral expression against a plain background.\" width=\"671\" height=\"800\" class=\"size-large wp-image-849751\"  \/>Mick Jagger. Musician, 1 June, 1976 (page 129) From Passport Photo Service, published by Phaidon Press <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/JaggerB-676x800.jpg\" alt=\"A woman with a serious expression wears a light-colored hat and a dark blazer with light trim. The image has a vintage, black-and-white style.\" width=\"676\" height=\"800\" class=\"size-large wp-image-849750\"  \/>Bianca Jagger. Activist, 1 June 1976 (page 128). From Passport Photo Service, published by Phaidon Press <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/018-ali-copy-629x800.jpg\" alt=\"Black-and-white portrait of a young man facing forward, wearing a collared shirt. Below the image, there is a blue handwritten signature and a note that reads &quot;To Philip Free.\" width=\"629\" height=\"800\" class=\"size-large wp-image-849744\"  \/>Muhammad Ali. Boxer, 11 June 1974. Signed with a dedication to Philip Sharkey (page 18) From Passport Photo Service, published by Phaidon Press <\/p>\n<p>Now, a book that \u201ctransforms the utilitarian ID portrait into a fascinating social document\u201d has been released, titled Passport Photo Service: An Unexpected Archive of Celebrity Portraits. It features unique portraits of Muhammad Ali (on his way to Rumble in the Jungle), Madonna, Mick Jagger, Angelina Jolie, Sean Connery, Kate Winslet, Tilda Swinton, David Hockney, and many more. <\/p>\n<p> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/251-1st-celebrity-board-photo-copyright-philip-sharkey-copy-800x598.jpg\" alt=\"A framed collage of over 100 small, individual black-and-white portraits, each featuring a person in formal attire, arranged in a grid pattern with names or labels beneath each photo.\" width=\"800\" height=\"598\" class=\"size-large wp-image-849749\"  \/>Passport Photo Service \u2018Celebrity Board\u2019. Photo: \u00a9 Philip Sharkey (1) <\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Passport-Photo-Service-2d-553x800.jpg\" alt=\"Dark blue book cover with large white text reading &quot;PASSPORT PHOTO SERVICE&quot; in three rounded rectangles. A red circular stamp at the bottom right says &quot;An Unexpected Archive of Celebrity Portraits.&quot; Author: Philip Sharkey.\" width=\"553\" height=\"800\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-849753\"  \/><\/p>\n<p>Passport Photo Service: An Unexpected Archive of Celebrity Portraits is<a href=\"https:\/\/www.phaidon.com\/en-us\/products\/passport-photo-service-an-unexpected-archive-of-celebrity-portraits?_pos=1&amp;_sid=00c20c520&amp;_ss=r\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"follow external noopener nofollow\"> published by Phaidon<\/a> and available now for $24.95.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kate Winslet. Actor, 2 October 1997 (page 249). From Passport Photo Service, published by Phaidon Press Most photographers&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":396983,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[437,434,435,436,727,438,146,128974,70451,85,46,119555,188397,188398],"class_list":{"0":"post-396982","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-artsanddesign","11":"tag-artsdesign","12":"tag-celebrity","13":"tag-design","14":"tag-entertainment","15":"tag-famous","16":"tag-historicalfriday","17":"tag-il","18":"tag-israel","19":"tag-passport","20":"tag-passportphoto","21":"tag-passportphotos"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396982","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=396982"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396982\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/396983"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=396982"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=396982"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=396982"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}