This photograph shows Bert Smith, a Romany knife grinder, photographed by Nigel Henderson in Chisenhale Road, East London, in 1953. He made his living by travelling around on a tricycle that incorporated a grindstone for sharpening the blades of domestic items including scissors, garden shears, lawn mowers and saws. Knife grinding was a traditional Romany occupation. The photographer Nigel Henderson lived in the East End, and took many photographs like this one documenting the lives of local inhabitants.
