Picture Post, a magazine that pioneered photojournalism, was first published in the United Kingdom in 1938. The magazine was an immediate success and after four months was selling 1,350,000 copies a week.

From its inception, Picture Post campaigned against the persecution of Jews in Nazi Germany. In the journal published on 26th November 1938, a picture story was run entitled "Back to the Middle Ages". Photographs of Adolf Hitler, Joseph Goebbels and Herman Goering were contrasted with the faces of those scientists, writers and actors they were persecuting.

In January 1941, the Post published their "Plan for Britain". This included minimum wages throughout industry, full employment, child allowances, a national health service, the planned use of land and a complete overhaul of education. This document led to discussions about post-war Britain and was a populist forerunner of William Beveridge's Report that was published in November 1942.

The sales of Picture Post increased rapidly during the World War II and by December 1943 the magazine was selling 950,000 copies a week. The trend continued after the war and by the end of 1949 circulation reached 1,422,000.

The editor, Tom Hopkinson, was often in conflict with Edward G. Hulton, the owner of Picture Post. Hulton supported the Conservative Party and objected to Hopkinson's socialist views. This conflict led to Hopkinson's dismissal in 1950 following the publication of a Bert Hardy article about South Korea's treatment of political prisoners in the Korean War.

By June 1952, circulation had fallen to 935,000. Sales continued to decline and by the time the magazine was closed in May 1957, circulation was less than 600,000 copies a week.

The photographic archive of Picture Post became an important historical documentary resource, and was set up by Edward G. Hulton as a semi-independent operation called Hulton Picture Library. It was bought by the BBC in 1958 and incorporated into the Radio Times photo archive, which was then sold to Brian Deutsch in 1988. The Hulton Deutsch Collection was bought for £8.6m by Getty Images in 1996, and Getty has retained the Hulton Picture Library as a featured resource within its large holdings.