From September 1940 to May 1941, London saw 57 consecutive nights of bombing. Approximately 30,000 Londoners were killed, and at least 1 million homes were destroyed. The German Air Force consistently bombed British cities, especially London, in an attempt to destroy resources around the city and destroy British morale. 

London City Police officers Arthur Cross and Frederick Tibbs were assigned as official police photographers and tasked with creating a photographic record of the city's damage. They documented the destruction in a collection of 371 photographs now held in the London Archives. These photos were never released to the public because of strict policies on news censorship. The British Ministry of Information created a permitting system for anyone documenting bomb damage. The British press was also required to submit their photos for approval before release. They were evaluated to make sure they did not leak any information that could be useful to an enemy, like locations or the degree of damage. Because of this, images released in the news were more focused on human activity and people's interaction with the city. The specific rules laid out in the Ministry of Information's permits and censorship policies led to a stark contrast in the photos used for documentation and internal use and images released to the public through the news. 

This research utilized primary sources found in archives across London, including, but not limited to, the Cross and Tibbs photograph collection at the London Archive, the Ministry of Information: Files of Correspondence at the British National Archive, and the British Newspaper Archive. 

The differences between images used for police use and Press stories are clear: one is for documenting, the other for storytelling. The photographs captured by Cross and Tibbs were never released to the public as they did not meet the censorship policy of the time. When going deeper into this research, I would like to use the Press and Censorship Bureau’s policy and instructions to explore why the Press chose the storytelling approach they did with their images. Obviously, they were drawn to emotion and human elements of a story because that’s what people connect to, but what guidelines tell them how to make an image look in order to accomplish this goal? What stories could they have told if they had access to more types of imagery? There is a tangible connection between the policy and the photographs, and I want to explore how that has impacted the visual style of these photographers. 

My research experience has increased my abilities in critical thinking, career and self-development, and communication. Working on this project has built my skills in synthesis, note-taking, and effective writing that impact all three of these fields. Taking in lots of visual and written information from different areas of study, matching them together, and finding and communicating new themes and narratives, prepares me for a career because I have learned more about information and building skills. This project taught me more than just the information at hand, but the skills it takes to retrieve it.