Photo inspiration

Black and white image of a couple in the 1940s taking a selfie in the mirror — *Image via Pinterest*

I am very lucky to be writing in a time period when photography was popular with the everyday person.

Go back only a few decades from the 1940s and photographs were a luxury that you reserved for important occasions like engagements or weddings. But thanks to the cheaper Box Brownie cameras (first launched in 1900), people were able to document all aspects of their lives.

Photograph of an old Box Brownie camera — *Image by Theodoros Panagopoulos*

And thanks to the internet, so many of those images are still available to us today.

Pinterest has been a boon while researching this novel, and while throughout my research, I’ve been saving images of the time I found online. Zooming in on a photograph can reveal so much in so little time -- all the intimate little details of everyday life.

Black and white photograph of a waitress writing the day's menu on a blackboard at a British Restaurant — *Image via Pinterest*

Black and white image of two girls, one blode, the other brunette, in a photobooth in the 1940s — *Image via Pinterest*

But beyond simply offering me a snapshot into daily life in the 1940s, photographs have also inspired a couple of scenes in the novel.

Black and white image of a couple jitterbug dancing - he is in uniform and wearing a bib stating: British Empire 1 — *Image from LIFE magazine via Pinterest*

You can see more of the photographs and images that helped and inspired me over at Pinterest, where I have created a dedicated board for the novel.

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