Beaches

The rationale for shooting these images is to show the remnants of the D-Day Landing beaches in Normandy that were invaded on the morning of the 6th of June 1944. I am interested in the notion that time passes, but the land remains the same.

My initial idea was to shoot the images on 120 film and took some photographs on digital (medium format) purely to meter light. I was in some way trying to give a nod to Robert Capa’s (1913-1954) images and to stand in the same place rephotographing the landscape. The black and white images appeared flat and lost the serenity of the blue sea and sky.

I am more interested in wide shots of the beaches, while these images are ambiguous, but connote the notion of the experiences of the landings. The titles of the photographs are the view of each side; the Allied Soldiers looking up the beach, and the Axis Powers looking out to sea.

I wanted the images to be stark and bleak, to emphases the grain and harsh aesthetic of Capa’s original images, but the weather was glorious sunshine.