The Rex Hardy photographs span the years 1936-1937 and encompass two linear feet. The collection consists of 1,856 35mm nitrate negatives. All photographs in the collection were taken by Hardy on assignment for "Life" magazine using a Leica camera and 35mm nitrate Dupont "Superior" film. Only a small percentage of the images were actually published. The library has struck 276 custom modern archival prints from the negatives, and these prints remain in the collection. The photographs are grouped into motion picture production photographs, biography photographs, and subject photographs.

The motion picture production photographs depict behind-the-scenes views of such films as "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" (1938), "A Day at the Races" (1937), "The Last of Mrs. Cheyney" (1937), "Maytime" (1937), and "The Prince and the Pauper" (1937).

The biography photographs comprise some of the earliest examples of candid 35mm photography focusing on the subject of the Hollywood film industry. Hardy achieved an immediacy not found in the more formal work of the official studio gallery portrait photographers. Persons depicted include Joan Crawford, Bing Crosby, Clark Gable, George and Ira Gershwin, Oliver Hardy, Al Jolson, The Marx Brothers, Tyrone Power, James Stewart, Robert Taylor, Shirley Temple, Spencer Tracy, and Darryl F. Zanuck. Also depicted are the Hollywood costume designers Adrian, Travis Banton, Louis Royer Hastings, Robert Kalloch, Walter Plunkett, Edward Stevenson, and Gwen Wakeling.

The subject photographs consist of three categories: the 1936 (9th) Academy Awards®, restaurants in the L.A. and Hollywood area, and the 1937 Hollywood studio strike.

Two vertical files, containing publicity clippings and a book, are administered by the Special Collections department.

Rex Hardy (1915-2004) was born in Los Angeles, California. After taking pictures with a Kodak "Brownie" camera as a boy, he obtained his first Leica camera in 1932. Shortly thereafter, he submitted one of his photographs to the Los Angeles Times as a candidate for a readers photograph contest. His photograph took first prize, and Hardy received a check for five dollars. He entered Stanford University in 1933 and took many photographs as a serious amateur photographer. The photographer Peter Stackpole became his mentor and an inspiration, as did the photographer Ansel Adams, who was also a friend and confidant. Hardy went to New York City in 1936 and landed his first position as a professional photographer with the newly founded Time magazine. Time sent him to Hollywood to become the first "official" staff photographer on the West Coast for its newly established Life magazine. From then until mid-1937, Hardy covered the Hollywood scene (primarily movie stars, studios, film sets, and costume designers). Hardy's 1936 photo layout on Robert Taylor appeared in Life's first issue, and in rapid succession, three of his photographs appeared on Life covers. In mid-1937 he was sent back to New York to continue work there for the Time/Life organization. He left Time/Life in early 1939 and returned to the West Coast, where he set himself up as a freelance photographer, doing work for various magazines, advertising agencies, and private individuals. In 1941, a call to active duty in the U.S. Navy ended Hardy's career in photography, and he subsequently moved on to a career in aviation.