Asleep in the Sarcophagus in Christ Church, Spitalfields

Bill BrandtWW-1940-142469

1940·Gelatin silver print·Image/paper: 22.9 × 19.3 cm (9 1/16 × 7 5/8 in.)

<p>This startling image of a man sleeping in a coffin was taken by Bill Brandt during the Blitz, a German bombing campaign against London during World War II. Brandt was a talented documentary photographer known for night photography, whose work appeared in British periodicals and his own books, such as A Night in London (1938). He was recruited by Britain’s Ministry of Information to document civilians sheltering from air raids. While many sought shelter in the subway tunnels of the London Underground, Brandt’s photograph attests to the use of even eerier subterranean spaces.</p>

Catalogue

Year: 1940
Medium: Gelatin silver print
Dimensions: Image/paper: 22.9 × 19.3 cm (9 1/16 × 7 5/8 in.)
Collection: Art Institute of Chicago
Artist: Bill Brandt

Artist

Bill Brandt

Photography

Bill Brandt was a British photographer and photojournalist. Born in Germany, Brandt moved to England, where he became known for his images of British society for such magazines as Lilliput and Picture Post; later he made distorted nudes, portraits of famous artists and landscapes. He is widely considered to be one of the most important British photographers of the 20th century.

London, UK

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