Exhibition:Picture Post: A Twentieth Century Icon

Launched in 1938, the popular British photo-magazine Picture Post documented a period of dramatic political and cultural change. With circulation figures reaching 1.7 million copies, it was seen and shared in homes and workplaces across the country.  

Picture Post was the leading British example of an international phenomenon, the birth of photojournalism and the photo-essay. Before the establishment of large television audiences, the photographs published in magazines and newspapers offered a shared perspective on the UK and its place in the world. 

Looking at Picture Post’s coverage of war, politics and leisure, this exhibition explores the story of an influential magazine. It also illuminates the social history of Britain through pivotal moments of change, from the rise of fascism in the 1930s to the triumph of popular culture in the 1950s. 

The exhibition has been developed in partnership with the Hulton Archive (Getty Images) and the Tom Hopkinson Centre for Media History (School of Journalism, Media and Culture, Cardiff University). 

This exhibition is generously supported by players of People's Postcode Lottery.