These portraits, like those taken for passports today are governed by certain rules. The subject should be photographed against a plain background and their whole face should be shown. Although the images shown here portray the sitters looking straight faced, open mouthed smiles were only banned in 2004.

As successive generations began to holiday aboard more frequently, the demand for passport photographs grew and the Photo Centre was the only place in Berwick to have them taken. The collection contains thousands of these portraits.  The number held by each sitter would not have appeared in the final print but have helped with identification.