A shoe shine man kneels to polish the shoes of a man in a coat, suit and bowler hat. The shoe shine man's stand is on the pavement outside a shop and consists of a cover on which he kneels and puts his equipment, a crate turned on its side and a stand for the customer's foot. The stand advertises Cherry Blossom shoe polish in light tan.
Fred Wilfred worked as Chief Photographer for Hawker Siddeley Aviation during the 1950s. In 1963 he started his own commercial and portrait studio in Hampton Hill. Wilfred was a member of the Richmond and Twickenham Photographic Society and a founder member of the London Portrait Group. Acclaimed for his portraiture and wedding photography, his documentary work, like this photograph, has remained largely unseen.
