Socialvision: visual culture and social democracy in Britain during World War II

This paper examines the visual print culture of Britain during World War II. Case-notes on Picture Post, the Army Bureau of Current Affairs and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents are used to support the argument that the circumstances of war transformed the print culture of Britain. The impact of new technologies of mechanical reproduction made the widespread use of photography and visual propaganda possible and this, in turn, played a crucial role in raising political consciousness at home, in the forces and in the workplace. The effects of these transformations played themselves out through the collective politics of 1945 onwards.