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.