Mr Porter, US War Correspondent', c 1943

Mr Porter, US War Correspondent', c 1943. A Kodachrome colour photograph of Mr Porter, an American war correspondent, taken by JCA Redhead (1886-1954) during World War Two. Although not soldiers, American war correspondents were required to wear army uniform. The Allies recognised the importance of war correspondents to the war effort. By late 1944 the public relations headquarters in Paris had enough staff and facilities to deal with the output of nearly 1,000 war correspondents. In addtion, it could handle 35,000 photographs and 100,000 feet of film footage each week. This photograph is a Kodachrome transparency. Introduced by Kodak in 1935, Kodachrome is regarded as the first 'modern' colour photographic process. Kodachrome film was imported into Britain from the USA and was in very short supply during World War Two. As Head of Kodak Ltd's Photo Finishing department in Harrow, England, Redhead had access to supplies of this scarce colour film. ©SSPL/NMeM/Kodak Collection