A hidden archive reveals candid passport moments with global stars. Collected by Phaidon, the book captures a vanishing Oxford Street and family memory.
For over sixty years, this unassuming spot on London’s Oxford Street became an intimate mecca for stars – a small shop that didn’t seek luxury, but printed passport photos in ten minutes or less.
The Passport Photo Service family business is known for fast service and a wall of faces of celebrity clients who paused before the cameras before the shop closed in 2019. Founded by a professional boxer who became a photographer, Dave Sharki, and handed to his son Philip, the Sharki family and their team shot portraits for passports, visas, and green cards – both for celebrities and ordinary people.
Thanks to its convenient location near a cluster of embassies, rapid service, and willingness to come to clients’ homes, about 800 stars sat in front of their cameras, including Muhammad Ali, Madonna, Chaka Khan, Bill Murray, Stella McCartney, Katy Perry, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Tilda Swinton.
Until now, the archive had never been public – except for the people who walked into the shop. But after its closure, partly due to the relocation of the American embassy and other factors, Philip Sharki returned to the idea his friends and family often suggested: to create books.
A Book to Remember London
“Passport Photo Service,” published by Phaidon, contains more than 300 portraits of stars from the 1950s to the 2010s. Sharki explained over the phone that while famous clients are a key draw, the book also serves as a memory of a part of London that is changing rapidly, as Oxford Street development leaves little room for small businesses.
“This is a disappearing London.”
– Dave Sharki
Their own studio was the former workshop of textile designer William Morris. In the early years of the business, the studio was located in the old workshop, and later they moved to the back of the building on North Row, which was bought by a developer; today there is a hairdressing salon there.
In the early days, they were recognizable on the shopfronts by the slogan “Ready in 10 minutes,” as well as by portable boards with posters they carried around the city.
Sharki started working there at 16. His mother worked as a receptionist and administrator, and his uncle joined his father as a photographer. At first they used negatives on cards, processed them in a darkroom, then switched to the fast automatic Kodak Veribrom, which printed black-and-white prints in five minutes. By the 1990s they integrated digital technologies so customers could see their photos. There was also studio lighting – it was an important factor in creating a more flattering shot, explained Sharki.
He calls the passport photo the “true equalizer,” since almost everyone in the world needs it to travel. And although shoots of stars rarely ended badly, it still gave a more unspoiled, candid look.
“Most of them didn’t come with makeup artists or PR, because they had just been at the embassy.”
– Dave Sharki
One of the exceptional stories was Kate Winslet, who in the late 1990s was among a small group while working on the film “Hideous Kinky,” where her character needed to show a passport in frame. The portrait was taken a few months before the release of “Titanic,” which made her a worldwide star.
Stars also enjoyed looking at the wall of fame in the shop: they recalled Sharki as Angelina Jolie walked in during a quiet afternoon and pointed to everyone she had worked with. Another unnamed actor later came back after Sharki moved her portrait, which led to an awkward explanation. Some celebrities used the service multiple times over the years: Joan Collins in 1971, 1979, and 1988; Sean Connery in 1977 and 1989; Ava Gedner in 1976 and 1987; and artist David Hockney in 1965 and 1970.
Their home shoots also linger in memory – from visits to Madonna and Guy Ritchie’s former home for shoots “right after they put the kids to bed,” to trips to recording studios where they photographed Sting, George Michael, or Eric Clapton. Sharki continues to work in this vein, preserving portraits for a client base.
Not all stars they photographed made it into the Passport Photo Service book; some portraits stayed in the vault. Sharki said that they signed non-disclosure agreements with stars only a few times, and their likeness would remain secret.
“One of them was so persistent that I would have left him out of the book anyway,” he smiled.
Overall, this story shows how preserving London in its simple faces confronts a changing urban landscape. The Passport Photo Service book stands as a documentary testament to an era when passport portraits were more than just formal documents – they reflected the capital’s cultural landscape.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source mezha.net ’
