The British at work and play
Portraiture of the nation's men, women and children by renowned photographer Edwin Smith
Chris Wild
1930s
Hailed by poet Sir John Betjeman as a "genius at photography" and by photographer Cecil Beaton as "an understanding and loving connoisseur of his subject," Edwin Smith (1912–1971) captured the essence of the places, landscapes and buildings he photographed. But some of his finest work is portraiture.
Portrait of an immigrant
Credit: <a href="http://www.architecture.com/WhatsOn/September2014/OrdinaryBeautyThePhotographyOfEdwinSmith.aspx">© Edwin Smith/RIBA Library Photographs Collection</a>
Portrait of a rural worker
Credit: <a href="http://www.architecture.com/WhatsOn/September2014/OrdinaryBeautyThePhotographyOfEdwinSmith.aspx">© Edwin Smith/RIBA Library Photographs Collection</a>
For a short period he worked as a Vogue fashion photographer, but went later focused his lens on British communities comprised of miners, dockers and circuses.
Shepherd Poole, shepherd to Mr. S Holloway of Norton-sub-Hambdon, Somerset
Credit: <a href="http://www.architecture.com/WhatsOn/September2014/OrdinaryBeautyThePhotographyOfEdwinSmith.aspx">© Edwin Smith/RIBA Library Photographs Collection</a>
Portrait of seated woman
Credit: <a href="http://www.architecture.com/WhatsOn/September2014/OrdinaryBeautyThePhotographyOfEdwinSmith.aspx">© Edwin Smith/RIBA Library Photographs Collection</a>
Coco the Clown at Olympia, London
Credit: <a href="http://www.architecture.com/WhatsOn/September2014/OrdinaryBeautyThePhotographyOfEdwinSmith.aspx">© Edwin Smith/RIBA Library Photographs Collection</a>
Circus horses and trainer
Credit: <a href="http://www.architecture.com/WhatsOn/September2014/OrdinaryBeautyThePhotographyOfEdwinSmith.aspx">© Edwin Smith/RIBA Library Photographs Collection</a>
Smith was sought after by publishers. In the 1950s he was commissioned by Thames & Hudson for a series of books, among them English Parish Churches (1952), English Cottages & Farmhouses (1954), Scotland (1955), England (1957) and The Living City: A New View of the City of London (1957). His photos also featured in Shell Guides and numerous other publications. They illustrated books on subjects varying from Great Houses of Europe to The Wonders of Italy.
St. James Street Station, Walthamstow, London
Credit: <a href="http://www.architecture.com/WhatsOn/September2014/OrdinaryBeautyThePhotographyOfEdwinSmith.aspx">© Edwin Smith/RIBA Library Photographs Collection</a>
Workers sitting on steps outside the Guildhall, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Credit: <a href="http://www.architecture.com/WhatsOn/September2014/OrdinaryBeautyThePhotographyOfEdwinSmith.aspx">© Edwin Smith/RIBA Library Photographs Collection</a>
A miner's home, Scotswood on Tyne
Credit: <a href="http://www.architecture.com/WhatsOn/September2014/OrdinaryBeautyThePhotographyOfEdwinSmith.aspx">© Edwin Smith/RIBA Library Photographs Collection</a>
Mannequin on a street barrow, London
Credit: <a href="http://www.architecture.com/WhatsOn/September2014/OrdinaryBeautyThePhotographyOfEdwinSmith.aspx">© Edwin Smith/RIBA Library Photographs Collection</a>
Smith died in 1971, aged 59. On his death he left his 60,000 negatives to the Royal Institute of British Architects.Ordinary Beauty: The Photography of Edwin Smith is currently exhibiting at RIBA in London.
Herring girls gutting fish on the quayside, North Shields
Credit: <a href="http://www.architecture.com/WhatsOn/September2014/OrdinaryBeautyThePhotographyOfEdwinSmith.aspx">© Edwin Smith/RIBA Library Photographs Collection</a>
Six clowns (Pinder in the centre) from Hagenbeck's Circus, Olympia, London
Credit: <a href="http://www.architecture.com/WhatsOn/September2014/OrdinaryBeautyThePhotographyOfEdwinSmith.aspx">© Edwin Smith/RIBA Library Photographs Collection</a>
Clowns performing at Bertram Mills Circus, Olympia, London
Credit: <a href="http://www.architecture.com/WhatsOn/September2014/OrdinaryBeautyThePhotographyOfEdwinSmith.aspx">© Edwin Smith/RIBA Library Photographs Collection</a>
Helter skelter and roundabout at a London fairground
Credit: <a href="http://www.architecture.com/WhatsOn/September2014/OrdinaryBeautyThePhotographyOfEdwinSmith.aspx">© Edwin Smith/RIBA Library Photographs Collection</a>
Circus riders
Credit: <a href="http://www.architecture.com/WhatsOn/September2014/OrdinaryBeautyThePhotographyOfEdwinSmith.aspx">© Edwin Smith/RIBA Library Photographs Collection</a>
Fairground workers constructing Gray's roundabout, Hampstead, London
Credit: <a href="http://www.architecture.com/WhatsOn/September2014/OrdinaryBeautyThePhotographyOfEdwinSmith.aspx">© Edwin Smith/RIBA Library Photographs Collection</a>
Fishermen and their boats on a beach
Credit: <a href="http://www.architecture.com/WhatsOn/September2014/OrdinaryBeautyThePhotographyOfEdwinSmith.aspx">© Edwin Smith/RIBA Library Photographs Collection</a>
Quayside market on Sunday morning, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Credit: <a href="http://www.architecture.com/WhatsOn/September2014/OrdinaryBeautyThePhotographyOfEdwinSmith.aspx">© Edwin Smith/RIBA Library Photographs Collection</a>
Children playing in the street outside a shop, Gateshead, Tyne & Wear
Credit: <a href="http://www.architecture.com/WhatsOn/September2014/OrdinaryBeautyThePhotographyOfEdwinSmith.aspx">© Edwin Smith/RIBA Library Photographs Collection</a>
People on the beach at South Shields, Tyne and Wear
Credit: <a href="http://www.architecture.com/WhatsOn/September2014/OrdinaryBeautyThePhotographyOfEdwinSmith.aspx">© Edwin Smith/RIBA Library Photographs Collection</a>
Fashion shot
Credit: <a href="http://www.architecture.com/WhatsOn/September2014/OrdinaryBeautyThePhotographyOfEdwinSmith.aspx">© Edwin Smith/RIBA Library Photographs Collection</a>
Fairground, Mitcham, London
Credit: <a href="http://www.architecture.com/WhatsOn/September2014/OrdinaryBeautyThePhotographyOfEdwinSmith.aspx">© Edwin Smith/RIBA Library Photographs Collection</a>
Workers at the National Aircraft Factory, Croydon, London
Credit: <a href="http://www.architecture.com/WhatsOn/September2014/OrdinaryBeautyThePhotographyOfEdwinSmith.aspx">© Edwin Smith/RIBA Library Photographs Collection</a>
Boys at Church Farm School, East Barnet, London
Credit: <a href="http://www.architecture.com/WhatsOn/September2014/OrdinaryBeautyThePhotographyOfEdwinSmith.aspx">© Edwin Smith/RIBA Library Photographs Collection</a>
Fan dancer, Mitcham Fair, London
Credit: <a href="http://www.architecture.com/WhatsOn/September2014/OrdinaryBeautyThePhotographyOfEdwinSmith.aspx">© Edwin Smith/RIBA Library Photographs Collection</a>
Fashion shot taken at 72 Brook Street, London
Credit: <a href="http://www.architecture.com/WhatsOn/September2014/OrdinaryBeautyThePhotographyOfEdwinSmith.aspx">© Edwin Smith/RIBA Library Photographs Collection</a>