Bill Brandt – Endangered Buildings 1941-43

A detail of the memento mori carving on the monument to Dean Charles Fotherby (died 1619), in the Lady Chapel of Canterbury Cathedral, Kent. A detail of the memento mori carving on the monument to Dean Charles Fotherby (died 1619), in the Lady Chapel of Canterbury Cathedral, Kent.When Bill Brandt was commissioned to work for the National Building Record in 1941, he already had over 10 years of photographic experience. Born in Hamburg in 1904, he began his photographic career in Vienna, working for a portrait studio in 1928. From here he was introduced to surrealist painter and photographer Man Ray, and subsequently moved to Paris to become his assistant.

In 1932 he settled in London where he produced some of his prominent work, capturing the turmoil of England in the Depression, and later the Second World War and its aftermath. Magazines such as Picture Post and Lilliput and books such as A Night in London (1938) featured Brandt’s haunting images of bombsites and the blackout in London. His work for the Ministry of Information in November 1940 is particularly notable, including striking images of London citizens sheltering in the Underground.

It was during this period of photojournalism and reportage that Brandt was commissioned to work for the NBR, formed in 1941 to document buildings and monuments of architectural or historical significance in case of bomb damage. Brandt worked on the project until 1943.

The NMR holds 446 of these images, both as cropped prints and as negatives. These photographs of buildings and streets in Chichester, Canterbury, Rochester and Colchester, and of Spencer House in London, do not at first sight appear to relate to his later artistic work as he moved away from documentary photography to an interest in landscape (Literary Britain, 1951) and to photographing nudes (Perspectives of Nudes, 1961). However, Brandt’s artistic style is visible in the NBR work: the stark use of light and shadow on some interior views reflects the approach of his later work, Shadow of Light. But more importantly, his images are significant for the way in which they fulfilled the intentions of the NBR in helping create a record of buildings, many of which have since been substantially altered or are no longer in existence.

To view the entire collection of Bill Brandt photographs held by the NMR visit our Viewfinder website at www.english-heritage.org.uk/viewfinder