London During the Blitz Through the Lens of American photographer William Vandivert

American photographer William Vandivert, born 1912 in Evanston, Illinois, worked for the Chicago Herald-Examiner from 1935 to 1955. Before the Second World War, he was one of the few photographers who worked in color photography for Life magazine in London. During the summer of 1939, Vandivert took color photographs in Paris. In 1941, he photographed the London Blitz in color.

Vandivert was the first Western photographer to photograph Adolf Hitler’s bunker and the ruins of Berlin just after the Battle of Berlin, which was published by Life in July 1945. In 1947, he helped found Magnum Photos and Robert Capa, Henri Cartier-Bresson, David Seymour, George Rodger, and Maria Eisner. His wife, Rita Vandivert, presided over the cooperative and managed the New York office at its opening.

Vandivert and his wife left Magnum Photos in 1948. He continued to work as a freelance photographer, publishing numerous articles in Fortune magazine, and then devoted himself and his wife to documenting nature and animals. The couple published several books between 1960 and 1982.

William Vandivert took these fantastic color photos of London during the Blitz for his work.

#1 A bus is laying inside a huge bomb crater in a London street after heavy German air raid bombing attacks during the Battle of Britain, October 15, 1940

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#2 A man sits on a park bench in London, 1940

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#3 A view of London after a German air raid, 1940

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#4 A view of London with damage from German bombing raids, 1940

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#5 Battle of Britain, 1940

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#6 Battle of Britain, 1940

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#7 Battle of Britain, 1940

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#8 Britons work a victory garden in the midst of World War II, 1940

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#9 Damage in London during the Blitz, 1940

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#10 Huge area of debris in London after heavy German air raid bombing attacks during the Battle of Britain, September 1940

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#11 London smolders, 1940

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#12 Rebuilding London during the Blitz, 1940

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#13 Scene from London after heavy German air raid bombing attacks during the Battle of Britain, 1940

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#14 Scene from London after heavy German air raid bombing attacks during the Battle of Britain, September 1940

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#15 St. Paul’s Cathedral, London, circa 1940

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#16 Workers clear debris from the lot where a home once stood, London, 1940

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#17 Wreckage of a bus leaning into a huge crater in front of bombed out buildings, a result of German aerial blitz attacks during the Battle of Britain, October 15, 1940

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#18 A London building ablaze during the Blitz, January 1941

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#19 Life goes on in London despite the destruction caused by German air raids, 1941

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#20 Two training Barracuda Bomber Pilots standing next to their aircraft, July 1944

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