• Photographic print
  • Photographic print

    Producer: Henderson, Nigel

    Date: 1953

    Accession number: IN7518

    This photograph shows Bert Smith, a Romany, in the East End. He made his living by travelling around on his tricycle. It incorporated a grind stone for sharpening the blades of domestic objects like scissors, garden shears, lawn mowers and saws. Knife grinding was a traditional Romany occupation. The photographer Nigel Henderson was friends with a number of French and British contemporary artists and writers. He lived in the East End and took many photographs like this one, documenting the everyday life of the inhabitants.


    Man on tricycle with knife-grinding machinery attached to the back.
    Man on tricycle with knife-grinding machinery attached to the back.

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