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I think of documentary photography as generally being candid shots of real-life events that reflect the everyday or extraordinary circumstances at a particular point in time and place. In skimming through Magnum photographs, this image initially got my attention because it seemed out of place among the surrounding images of England during World War II. The metadata and a closer inspection revealed that it was documenting fashion in London during the Blitz. More particularly it documents what was known as utility clothing, specifically, a blackout and Air Raid Precaution or ARP outfit. In this case, the outfit includes "gloves with white palms (sometimes luminous) to show up in the dark of blackout which was imposed every night at sundown."1 I chose this photograph as being representative of documentary photography because it documents clothing style created in reaction to extraordinary historical events, it documents safety strategies used by the ARP organization-created to protect civilians at the time, and it documents women's involvement in ARP patrols.
*Note: If you are at all intrigued by blackout fashion, as I now am, you may find this short BBC article and video worth checking out. It includes images of luminescent accessories and buttons http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-31719704.
1. George Rodger, 1940. Young lady models "Utility", blackout and ARP (Air Raid Precaution) outfit. 1940. ARTstor, accessed 13 September 2015); available www.artstor.org, image ID LON16402.jpg
Now you've got me into this kind of fashion as well-didn't know such a thing existed. The woman resembles "gone with the Wind" star Vivian Leigh to me.
ReplyDeleteThat is exactly who I thought she was when I saw the thumbnail!
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