An Italian-american Cafe, Little Italy, New York City, 1942

Captured here: an Italian-American Cafe, Little Italy, New York City, 1942. The scene dates to 1942, a detail that changes how you read every face and object in the frame.

The first half of the 1940s was consumed by the Second World War, the largest conflict in human history, and photography went to war with it — small 35mm cameras and wire services meant pictures from the front could reach newspaper readers within days.

Most photography of the period chased celebrities and headlines, which makes surviving images of daily routine all the more precious. This is what the world actually looked like when nobody thought it was worth remembering.