Cecil Beaton is one of Britain's most celebrated photographers and designers of the 20th century. His glamorous photographs of royalty and celebrities projected him to fame but this major new exhibition reveals the less well-known side of Beaton – his work as an official war photographer.
Commissioned by the Ministry of Information in July 1940, Beaton was the longest serving, most productive high profile photographer to cover the Second World War. In his distinctive style he captured the impact of war on society in Britain as well as societies on the brink of change throughout the Middle East and the Far East.
In later years, Beaton attributed his war photographs as his single most important body of photographic work. Through his photographs, drawings and books as well as his work in theatre and film, this exhibition tells the story of how the war became a personal turning point in Beaton's career.
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