Hardy was born in London and studied drama and French at
Bristol University before living in Paris. She returned to London and worked as an actor. Later she moved to rural Suffolk and concentrated on photography.[5]
It was in Suffolk, over the course of 20 years, that she made the photographs of her mother and children that appear in her first book, Permissions (2022). "The photographs in the book show moments of recognisable domesticity interspersed with more idyllic scenes", "blending the candid with the composed". "The book is divided into chapters, each announced by a large-format still life of home-grown flowers".[6][7][8]