Coronation! 1953-2013

Coronation! a new photography exhibition to mark the 60th anniversary of the 1953 Coronation showing the energetic preparations undertaken at Westminster Abbey, the pomp and magnificence of the service and the joyous celebrations which swept the nation opens at Westminster Abbey on 6th May 2013.

The Abbey has joined up with Getty Images to produce the exhibition which includes some of the best news pictures of the time during the heyday of black and white photo-journalism. Over 40 images including the work of Bert Hardy and John Chillingworth, as well iconic shots from the Picture Post archive are featured.

Visitors will be able to see the historic images in massive detail as the latest techniques allow the pictures to be blown up to many times their original size, printed onto paper-thin fabric and then dramatically backlit through giant light-boxes.

The exhibition also highlights the forgotten story of the prodigious transformation of Westminster Abbey in the six months before Coronation Day. The Ministry of Works, the government’s building department at the time, carried out extensive building work to re-configure the Abbey and recorded it all in meticulous detail. Some of the original Ministry of Works prints, which are now all stored at The National Archives, Kew, have been scanned specially for use in the exhibition.