Featuring the Queen’s Guards as you’ve never seen them before appropriately captured in this most sporting of years… 

From the moment London was announced as the winning host city for the 2012 Olympics and Paralympic Games, Gideon Hart knew he wanted to be involved. Having worked with the Coldstream Guards he was inspired to photograph them performing Olympic sports… 

“The initial idea for The Guards’ project started many years ago when I was driving past the parade ground near Buckingham Palace and I saw a long line of royal guards in their bearskin hats. One of the soldiers was wearing a tall chef’s hat instead of a bearskin hat. It was a very strange sight. Years later when London was announced as the winning city to host the 2012 games I thought it would be fun to swap the chef with an athlete.” 

The focus of the project was to bring sport and humour to the guards, it was an interesting concept; the end result a fascinating juxtaposition. 

Gieves & Hawkes have a long history of outfitting gentlemen and officers alike, including most notably The Honourable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms. Originally known as The Troop of Gentlemen, the Corps was formed in 1509 by Henry VIII to act as a mounted escort and the ‘nearest guard to the monarch’. The duty of supplying the uniforms, helmets and other accoutrements fell to Hawkes under George V in 1912 and the company, now Gieves & Hawkes, has retained that honour to the present day. 

The current role of the Corps is now purely ceremonial, attending the Sovereign at various ceremonies, including visits by Heads of State and the State Opening of Parliament. No1 Savile Row serves as the mustering point for the Corps on these occasions so the location presents an ideal one for this exhibition.

Born in London, Gideon Hart has been shooting photographs for clients worldwide for the past 25 years. He has shot editorial images for just about every major magazine and newspaper from Vogue to The London Evening Standard, theatre work for The Royal National Theatre and commercial work for clients such as Sony, Waitrose and The Body Shop. Gideon has also worked with many leading charities from Fair Trials Abroad to Amnesty International.

The complete Guards Series is now available on a strictly limited edition basis. Each is printed with archival inks on Hahnemule fine art paper, then signed and numbered with a certificate of authenticity.