Picture Stories
This feature documentary tells the story of the photographic magazine that, for the first time, portrayed real British people as they really were – at work and at play, in love and at war.
Picture Post perfected the picture story and gave birth to street photography. We have exclusive access to its extraordinary archive.
This film reveals how Picture Post revolutionised magazine photography; it captured the lives of ordinary people, unposed; used reportage techniques to create powerful narratives; employed women photographers; and explored the early days of multiculturalism. At its height, it was read by five million people around the world, every week.
For a weekly magazine, Picture Post had a strong sense of purpose – it campaigned against fascism and for the welfare state. But it was also criticised for re-enforcing northern stereotypes and finally lost its way as television took hold of the nation’s imagination.
This remarkable story is told both by people who worked on the magazine and contemporary photographers, who talk about how its legacy is felt today – in street photography and the intimate and realistic portrayal of people’s lives.
The British would never see themselves in the same way again.
