One shot, no frills and coat still on - famous faces and their passport pics

For nearly six decades, anyone and everyone who needed a passport photo shuffled through Dave Sharkey's modest Oxford Street studio.

Located opposite Selfridges, it quietly became one of London's most influential photographic institutions.

Muhammad Ali, Madonna, Sean Connery, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Marvin Gaye and many more actors, musicians, writers and athletes were photographed under the same rules as everyone else.

One shot, large-format negative, no frills - and often minutes before an embassy deadline - with coats still on.

Now an archive of more than 300 celebrity portraits from London's Passport Photo Service is going on display for the first time.

Not many people can claim to have met the richest man in the world aged just eight.

But one of those few is Philip Sharkey.

As the passport photographer's son, school holidays saw him roped into helping out at the studio.

He told BBC London: "When I was eight or nine years old, I took Paul Getty's passport photos to him.

"My father said to me, 'that's the richest man in the world'.

"And I thought, God - if I was the richest man in the world, I'd be smiling. He looked miserable."

Dave Sharkey was born in the East End and left school at 14 to become a professional boxer.

Philip explained that when he stopped boxing, his dad worked on Trafalgar Square taking photos of tourists, because back then nobody had a camera.

"When the council shut him down, my dad was at a loose end and overheard an American say he couldn't wait days for a passport photo.

"My father knew how to do it in 10 minutes, with chemicals, and the whole family mucked in for tuppence."

He chose a strategic location, minutes from the American, Canadian and other Mayfair embassies, meaning a steady stream of travellers walked through the door, hundreds of whom happened to be famous.

Along with his wife Ann, their son Philip, and their extended family the studio's reputation was built on speed, consistency and word of mouth.

James Coburn paid extra for two versions, smiling and not.

Ava Gardner once sat quietly in the waiting room while a customer loudly insisted the celebrity photos on the wall couldn't possibly be real.

Sean Connery turned up without his hairpiece. Eric Clapton asked Sharkey to photograph his entire entourage from make up to caterers, as they embarked on a tour to Japan.

While there were many celebrities passing through the doors, not all were as easily recognisable as Sean Connery, and many were lost to history because they were not famous yet.

"When celebrities came in, we kept their photos, but we just didn't have room to store everyone's negatives forever," explained Philip.

"A lady once came in, we had all the photos on boards and she said that she couldn't see Marvin Gaye.

"I told her that I hadn't photographed him. She said that she worked for his record company and when in Belgium, [Marvin Gaye was] completely out of it, and lost everything all, his passport.

"She said that she brought him for his photo for the embassy and because he didn't have anything to prove his identity, he sang for them instead.

"This is the story she told, so Marvin Gaye slipped away and I'm sure there are more."

Many A-listers such as Muhammad Ali marched into the studio without any security or entourage, others became regular customers.

Ringo Starr was photographed at the studio "from a teddy boy up".

Sharkey's remarkable archive of fame, fashion and post-war Britain features anecdotes from behind the camera, from when fame briefly intersected with the bureaucracy of official photography.

Passport Photo Service: An Unexpected Archive of Celebrity Portraits by Philip Sharkey, is published by Phaidon and is now on sale.

Listen to the best of BBC Radio London on Sounds and follow BBC London on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to hello.bbclondon@bbc.co.uk