East End Girl Dancing the Lambeth Walk

Bill Brandt was one of Britain’s best-known photographers of the post-war years, but his career began before the Second World War, with his documentary photographs appearing in photojournalistic magazines as early as 1938. Brandt took this photograph in the East End of London during the lead-up to World War Two, writing, “She was showing off to her companions. She graciously went on showing off for Bill Brandt.” In January 1943, this image first appeared in the British magazine Picture Post, with the caption, “In The Days Before Youth Clubs / With no club to go to, they spent their spare time playing juvenile games in the street.” It served as a cautionary note about aimless youth during wartime. Several years later, in 1950, the same image appeared in another issue of Picture Post alongside the article “Street Play and Play Streets.” This time, the photograph served as a site of nostalgia for a time when children played freely, evidencing the different ways that photographs can be interpreted, depending on context.