The World Wars - Subcategories

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Vintage war photography from Quirky Prints

Images of World Wars I and II, captured in vintage war photography, provide some of the most arresting and compelling pictures that many of us have ever seen.

The First World War which started in August 1914, was predicted to be ‘over by Christmas’, but did not in fact end until November 1918. World War II ended peace once again, when Britain and France declared war on Germany in September 1939. This war was to last until May 1945 and over those years, many vintage photographs captured images of how generations coped with wartime.

Recognising the enormous interest that exists for vintage war photography, the team at Quirky Prints knew that their gallery of vintage photographs simply had to include a comprehensive section dedicated to World Wars I and II.

Their hunt for old black-and-white photographs and images took them to hundreds of antique shops, collectors’ fairs, vintage photograph dealers and specialists around the country.

The resulting collection is thousands of hand-picked vintage photographs, on all manner of topics, including landscapes, people, shops, far-flung civilizations and transport from years ago. And among the many old black and white, hand coloured and sepia photographs that were collected, was a selection of compelling and emotive vintage war photography.

Within the dedicated WORLD WAR I & II category on their website, Quirky Prints offers a selection of these unique and moving photographs. There are dramatic pictures from the front line with soldiers sheltering in trenches, arresting images from London in the Blitz, and pictures of nurses, field hospitals, soldiers and many others, who played their part in helping Britain to win the war. All these photographs are captured by war photographers black and white photographic detail.

These old, forgotten, but delightful vintage photographs, make stunning framed pictures. They become unique artworks, which can be hung in our homes, or bought as original and imaginative gifts for friends. No matter that we know nothing of the people or places in these old photographs. They are moments frozen in time. These pictures have their own unique story to tell. They have as much meaning and resonance with us today, as they had for those involved in creating the vintage photograph all those years ago.

The original vintage war photography is all reproduced on finest grade, heavyweight art paper, to preserve all the fine detail and quality of the image. These Giclee prints are then enlarged and presented in contemporary metal frames, which have been carefully chosen both to improve the images and to complement any style of home decor.

For anyone who is completely uninspired and bored with the same prints offered for sale in the high street – those thousands of similar pictures that appear in thousands of homes across the UK - Quirky Prints offers something new, some different - Something Quirky in fact!

There are thirty-two other categories to choose from on the Quirky Prints website - from Agriculture to Transport – with literally thousands of images taken from original vintage photographs. Each of the old black and white photographs has been carefully restored to remove any damage, but preserve the originality of the image. Others have been painstakingly hand coloured or had their original colours restored.

The result is a remarkable visual time capsule of years gone by. Within the collection of vintage war photography on the Quirky Prints website, we can remember the marvellous efforts made by generations before us, in the fight for victory and peace.

The Soldier

IF I should die, think only this of me
That there's some corner of a foreign field
That is for ever England. There shall be
In that rich earth a richer dust concealed
A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware,
Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam,
A body of England's breathing English air,
Washed by the rivers, blest by suns of home.

And think, this heart, all evil shed away,
A pulse in the eternal mind, no less
Gives somewhere back the thoughts by England given
Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day
And laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness,
In hearts at peace, under an English heaven.

Rupert Brooke. 1887–1915. One of England’s most famous war poets.

See the vintage war photography from the Quirky Prints Online Art Gallery and how they capture the horrors of conflict.