William Joseph Condren was born in Bermondsey, 1900. He married Beatrice Deal in 1926, with whom he had one son.

He worked in a munitions factory in Woolwich, 1914-18. After the war he worked with his father as a window cleaner and odd job man, 1918-39. He took an evening course in photography at the Vicarage Lane Institute and won various prizes as an amateur photographer, including the London County Council Camera Club prize in 1937 and the Goldthorpe Challenge Cup in 1939.

He worked as a government photographer at the Royal Armament Research Department, Woolwich, 1939-45. He participated in Operation Backfire, travelling to Germany as part of a team to evaluate V2 rockets and photograph test firings near Cuxhaven, 1945. He was Chief Government Photographer at the Atomic Energy Research Establishment, Harwell, 1945-60, where he worked on scientific filmmaking and photography nuclear processes and materials. He was Head of Labour and Public Relations at Atomic Power Constructions Ltd, 1960-5, and a consultant and adviser to United Gas Industries, 1965-70.

He died in London in 1975.