Stunning Vintage Black-and-White Photos of Edwin Smith

Edwin Smith (born Edwin George Herbert Smith) was an English photographer best known for his distinctive vignettes of English gardens, landscapes, and architecture. In 1935 he became a freelance photographer, working as a fashion photographer for Vogue for a short time. However, Smith concentrated his artistic efforts on subjects such as the mining community of Ashington in Northumberland, the docks of Newcastle, and circuses and fairgrounds around London.

In 1954, Smith married artist and writer Olive Cook, whom he authored or contributed to numerous books during his lifetime. A tireless promoter of Smith’s work, Cook left her husband’s archive of 60,000 negatives to the Royal Institute of British Architects’ Robert Elwall Photographs Collection in 2002.

Take a look at Smith’s stunning photography through these 28 gorgeous black-and-white pictures below:

Kentish Town station, London

Stunning Vintage Black-and-White Photos of Edwin Smith

Gateshead

Stunning Vintage Black-and-White Photos of Edwin Smith

Herring girls gutting fish on the quayside, North Shields

Stunning Vintage Black-and-White Photos of Edwin Smith

35 Hallam’s Lane, Chilwell near Nottingham

Stunning Vintage Black-and-White Photos of Edwin Smith

Church Farm Approved School, East Barnet, London

Stunning Vintage Black-and-White Photos of Edwin Smith

Southend-on-Sea, Essex

Palace Pier, Brighton

Stunning Vintage Black-and-White Photos of Edwin Smith

Central markets, West Smithfield, London

Stunning Vintage Black-and-White Photos of Edwin Smith

Clothes line in Glencaple, Scotland

Dumbiedykes from Salisbury Crags

Stunning Vintage Black-and-White Photos of Edwin Smith

Fragment of the colossal statue of Constantine the Great, Palazzo dei Conservatori, Rome

Stunning Vintage Black-and-White Photos of Edwin Smith

Night street cleaning near St Paul’s Cathedral, London

‘Ideal’ fish & chip shop, London

Stunning Vintage Black-and-White Photos of Edwin Smith

Roofscape, Whitby, North Yorkshire

Back-street garden, Camden Town, London

Tulip staircase, Queens House, Greenwich, London

Stunning Vintage Black-and-White Photos of Edwin Smith

The colonnade, St Peter’s Square, Rome

Stunning Vintage Black-and-White Photos of Edwin Smith

Campo San Giorgio Maggiore, Venice

Villa Garzoni Collodi, Tuscany

St Lawrence Didmarton, Gloucestershire

Stunning Vintage Black-and-White Photos of Edwin Smith

Farm in the mountains between Auletta and Potenza, Italy

Two boys on a doorstep, Kilkenny, Ireland

Stunning Vintage Black-and-White Photos of Edwin Smith

St Columba’s Wells, Londonderry, Northern Ireland

Stunning Vintage Black-and-White Photos of Edwin Smith

Skandia cinema, Stockholm

Lyne Church Peebles, Scotland

Stunning Vintage Black-and-White Photos of Edwin Smith

Bodnant Garden, Conwy, Wales

Pincio gardens overlooking Rome

Stunning Vintage Black-and-White Photos of Edwin Smith

View from the Palazzo dello Sport, Rome

Was this article helpful?

Yes

Topics: 1960s old england 1950s 1970s 1930s life & culture England people 1940s photography