Wednesday 27 February 2013

What a Picture!

Picture Post was a prominent news magazine published in the United Kingdom from 1938-1957, and is often considered to be a British version of America's 'Life' magazine.

We currently have a selection of these in stock, and have had some of our favourites mounted and framed in hand-stained tulipwood. We would like to stress that these are original covers, not copies.


With the first issue of the Picture Post being published in the late 1930's, many of its early stories covered aspects of the Second World War. Tales of heroic servicemen and servicewomen sat alongside stories relating to life on the home front, and gave readers a snapshot of wartime from all angles.  


 

Post-war issues went on to cover Britain's stoic efforts to rebuild itself,  particularly focusing on its social scene, and the life of the impoverished working classes. On its covers, the Picture Post immortalised the characterful faces of farmers, ship-builders, and workers from other industries, alongside the fresh-faced optimism of youth. 







Even though it ran for less than 20 years, it produced some of the most striking and memorable covers of any publication of the period.

This was down to the Picture Post's stable of photographers, some of the finest photojournalists of the 20th century, including Bill Brandt, John Chillingworth, Bert Hardy, Thurston Hopkins, Kurt Hutton, Felix Man, Grace Robertson, Humphrey Spender.

The images they produced are iconic, although rarely were they individually credited; they were very much considered as magazine staff representing the Picture Post brand.