[HARDY, Thomas (1840-1928)]. EDIS, Olive, photographer. Portrait photograph of Thomas Hardy signed ("Thomas Hardy"). Norfolk & Farnham, Surrey: Studios at Sheringham & Cromer, 1913.

203 x 152 mm. Sepia tone photo on original studio mount, SIGNED AND DATED 1913 BY HARDY at the foot of the mount.

A profile portrait of Hardy in his 73rd year, seated at his desk with pen in hand, poised above a tablet of papers. Edis was a pioneering female photographer who began her craft in 1900 and went on to spend 50 years producing portraits of royalty, members of high society as well as the likes of village fishermen. She was the first female war photographer for the Imperial War Museum and documented the work of women in France and Belgium in the aftermath of World War I. Florence Hardy remarked about this portrait: "No photograph could be more natural or give a better idea of how he looked as he sat at work in his study" (See Fishermen & Kings, The Photography of Olive Edis by Alistair Murphy and Elizabeth Elmore. Norfolk Museums Service, 2017).