Known for his fashion and portrait photography, Cecil Beaton (1904–1980) also served as a wartime photographer, snapping more than 7,000 pictures between 1940 and 1945. It wasn’t until recently that 120 of these images were discovered in London’s Imperial War Museum’s Photograph Archive. Depicting life in Britain during the World War II, the photographs entered the Museum’s collection in 1948 when the Ministry of Information’s photo archive was transferred to the museum. The photographs, which had been filed by subject matter rather than photographer, had remained unattributed until now.

To celebrate the hidden treasure, the Museum will hold the exhibition “Cecil Beaton: Theatre of War through January 1, 2013.