Inside Passport Photo Service: Incredible never-before-seen celebrity portraits revealed

EXCLUSIVE: Inside Passport Photo Service: Incredible never-before-seen celebrity portraits revealedPassport Photo Service: An Unexpected Archive of Celebrity Portraits features 300 never-before-seen celebrity images from its archive, from Mick Jagger to Arnold SchwarzeneggerCommentsNewsFran Bowden Head of Features (Longform) and Hannah Britt, Senior Reporter Mirror Features10:00, 19 Apr 2026View 7 ImagesLegendary boxer Muhammad Ali(Image: AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)When an ex-boxer overheard an angry American’s gripes about being unable to get a passport photo in time to fly home the next day, he had a lightbulb moment. David Sharkey had been honing his photographic skills since the late 1940s, when he sold his ration books and bought a Leica camera, becoming a ‘smudge,’ snapping tourists in London’s Trafalgar Square. The derogatory moniker came from complaints when tourists failed to receive their photos and were allegedly told by errant lensmen that their addresses had been ‘smudged’ in the rain.‌But there would be none of that in David’s new venture. It was 1953 and, spotting a gap in the market, after his encounter with the angry man from the US in Wolfe’s Coffee House in the West End, quicker than you could say ‘cheese,’ he’d set up Express Photos on Oxford Street.‌READ MORE: Trainspotting's Irvine Welsh tells of 'brutal' drug-fuelled murders that inspired hit filmMoving in 1957 to number 449 under the new name, Passport Photo Service, it was bang opposite Selfridges and less than a minute’s walk from the US, Canadian and Japanese embassies. The prime site provided plenty of trade from people seeking passport photos, visas and green cards.‌7View 7 ImagesDavid Sharkey had been honing his photographic skills since the late 1940s, when he sold his ration books and bought a Leica camera, becoming a ‘smudge,’ snapping tourists in London’s Trafalgar Square(Image: Supplied)7View 7 ImagesPhilip Sharkey (centre) with photographers Ivo Carmo (left) and Piot...