The Imperial War Museum is a very important archive of history. It is there to not only educate the public, but also possibly be a personal trip. I think it is very good for there to be somewhere with actual items from wars such as machinery, tanks and planes. The museum is set out very open plan, which is important as there is so much to see. As well as physical items, there are a range of videos of archive footage which I found very interesting. The museum gets people more involved in the events of the past.
I thought the display design was good, from the layout to the lighting. I of course, like everyone else felt an emotional response to the Museum. My grandparents both faught in WW2 and I have heard stories, but it is always different when seeing video footage and photographs.
I learned from my trip to the exhibition, for example that more people were killed in the making of the V weapons than were killed by them. Von Braun knew that it was built by slaves, but didn’t object. This made me think about how power and authority can cause people to be inhumane and so moraly wrong. I also thought about how differently machinery may be made in the modern day and if it would differ much to back in war time.
A range of photographs by Cecil Beaton drew my attention. Beaton went to Egypt to capture the landscape of the desert, as well as the people who fought in it. I found these black and white photographs emotional and to me, were the highlight of the museum. Beaton’s photography was intended to ‘boost morale at home and to garner sympathy abroad, particularly from the United States.’ Beaton never actually photographed fighting, which I feel makes his photography more about the people who were fighting rather than the war itself.
I thought the display design was good, from the layout to the lighting. I of course, like everyone else felt an emotional response to the Museum. My grandparents both faught in WW2 and I have heard stories, but it is always different when seeing video footage and photographs.
I learned from my trip to the exhibition, for example that more people were killed in the making of the V weapons than were killed by them. Von Braun knew that it was built by slaves, but didn’t object. This made me think about how power and authority can cause people to be inhumane and so moraly wrong. I also thought about how differently machinery may be made in the modern day and if it would differ much to back in war time.
A range of photographs by Cecil Beaton drew my attention. Beaton went to Egypt to capture the landscape of the desert, as well as the people who fought in it. I found these black and white photographs emotional and to me, were the highlight of the museum. Beaton’s photography was intended to ‘boost morale at home and to garner sympathy abroad, particularly from the United States.’ Beaton never actually photographed fighting, which I feel makes his photography more about the people who were fighting rather than the war itself.
Cecil Beaton photograph of a British soldier drinking tea next to a Red Cross mobile tea wagon at Calcutta airport in 1944.
Chinese cadets wearing German pattern steel helmets parade at the Central Military Academy, Chengtu, Szechuan, China, 1944.
Cecil Beaton, 1944,
http://www.iwmprints.org.uk/image/743507/beaton-cecil-cecil-beaton-photograph-of-a-british-soldier-drinking-tea-next-to-a-red-cross-mobile-tea-wagon-at-calcutta-airport-in-1944
http://www.iwmprints.org.uk/image/937067/beaton-cecil-chinese-cadets-wearing-german-pattern-steel-helmets-parade-at-the-central-military-academy-chengtu-szechuan-china-1944
Chinese cadets wearing German pattern steel helmets parade at the Central Military Academy, Chengtu, Szechuan, China, 1944.
Cecil Beaton, 1944,
http://www.iwmprints.org.uk/image/743507/beaton-cecil-cecil-beaton-photograph-of-a-british-soldier-drinking-tea-next-to-a-red-cross-mobile-tea-wagon-at-calcutta-airport-in-1944
http://www.iwmprints.org.uk/image/937067/beaton-cecil-chinese-cadets-wearing-german-pattern-steel-helmets-parade-at-the-central-military-academy-chengtu-szechuan-china-1944