Wilhelm Hermann Brandt, known throughout his career as Bill Brandt, was born in Hamburg, Germany. Best known for his images of British society, Brandt spend the majority of his life in England. After he was declared cured of tuberculosis, which he contracted at an early age, Brandt moved from his hospital bed to live with the socialite Eugenie Schwarzwald, who introduced Brandt to poet and critic Ezra Pound. His meeting with Pound, an important proponent of the Modernist movement, encouraged the photographer’s career to flourish. After having captured portraits of Pound, Brandt was introduced to Man Ray who influenced his artistic style significantly.
Brandt moved to London in 1933 and began avidly photographing British society and documenting his work in books. He was a regular contributor to Picture Post and Harper’s Bazaar and documented the Blitz in 1940 and the underground bomb shelters having been commissioned by the Ministry of Information. Brandt is one of the most celebrated photographers of the 20th Century. Many of his works remain in the collections of the Victoria & Albert Museum and the Museum of Modern Art, New York.