Harold Burdekin (1899-1944) - Alley (George Street, Strand and Charing Cross Hospital)

Splendid and very rare original photoengraving by Harold Burdekin (Sheffield 1899 - Reigate 1944) from 1934 entitled: - Alley (George Street, Strand and Charing Cross Hospital) - taken from the London Night series, and printed beautifully in Dark Blue Ink on J R Jones handmade paper.

The photoengraving shows light signs of use as shown in the image.

The photo is sold including its passepartout.
Image size 271x175 mm
Sheet size 282x205 mm
passepartout size 50x40cm

Born in 1899, Harold Benjamin Burdekin was educated at Rugby School. At the age of 17 he joined the Royal Field Artillery and served in the later years of the Great War. Upon returning to civilian life, he embarked on a career as a professional photographer and opened a studio in Reigate, reportedly at 20 West Street. He became an Associate of the Royal Photographic Society and a Fellow of the Institute of British Photographers, publishing a series of best-selling books of his work during the 1930s. His work was highly regarded and exhibited internationally. During the Second World War, Harold Burdekin served as a Fire Guard. After surviving his military service in the Great War, he was killed by a flying bomb that hit Reigate on 22 July 1944.
Night photography as an idiom in its own right began with George Brassaï who depicted the nightlife of the streets of Paris, publishing "Paris de Nuit" in 1932, which inspired Burdekin a few years later in his series of nocturnes of London.