Forgotten faces from post-war London

We don’t know much about many of the people and places Wilfred photographed. He recorded little information to go with his photos. Despite remaining mysterious, each shot provides small clues to the city in this moment in time, whether it’s adverts, or street workers.

Wilfred was born in Islington in 1925. He served in the army and RAF before becoming a successful professional portrait photographer. But he also carried a camera with him almost everywhere he went. His documentary work, shooting London’s people and places, is largely unknown.

Wilfred died in 2010. We acquired 134 of his photos in 2011 and a year later they were shown in an exhibition at London Museum.

The 1960s were a time of huge social change in London. Young people with more spare time and more disposable income threw off their parents’ demands and habits to create their own identities. Youth subcultures emerged, like the mods and rockers.

The open-air swimming pool in Twickenham, south-west London, opened in 1935 and remained open until 1985. It’s now been converted into a garden, where the outline of the pool and an old diving board are still visible.

Wilfred worked as the chief photographer for Hawker Siddeley Aviation during the 1950s. In 1963 he started his own commercial and portrait studio in Hampton Hill, Richmond. Wilfred was a member of the Richmond and Twickenham Photographic Society and a founder-member of the London Portrait Group.

Behind this orderly line of seagulls, you can see the faint outline of the Royal Festival Hall and the shot tower. The Royal Festival Hall was built in 1951 for the Festival of Britain – a celebration to signal Britain’s post-war ambitions. The shot tower, used to make shotgun pellets, was demolished in 1967 to make way for the Queen Elizabeth Hall.

Many of Wilfred’s street photos feature children. It’s no surprise. Playing in the street without adults was normal behaviour then, making kids far more visible than they are today.

A truck driver catches a quick nap in his cab.

A street vendor sells hot chestnuts at a market near Brick Lane in east London, while three of his customers peel and eat them.

There are signs of a hopeful future in Wilfred’s photos, but the scars of the Second World War linger. Derelict buildings, bombsites and wasteland become places of play for adventurous children.