The photograph was taken in May 1944 in London, when Jack Lieb documented the weeks before D-Day. In the midst of intensive Allied preparations for the Normandy invasion, Lieb captured everyday scenes with his private 16-mm Kodachrome camera, showing civilian life in the British capital. Such images served in the later lecture film as a counterpoint to military preparations and combat footage, documenting the normalcy of London city life despite years of wartime conditions.