The Magnificent Eleven: D-Day's Famous Photos

One of the eleven frames from D-Day. Photo sourced from WikiCommons.

Today is the 72nd anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy. Those who think of D-Day often picture the opening scene of Steven Spielberg's iconic film "Saving Private Ryan" (or, "The Longest Day", for those of the older generations). Aside from first-hand accounts, the knowledge to film those scenes successfully had to come from somewhere, and we are fortunate to have any photos of D-Day at all.

Omaha Beach is where "Saving Private Ryan"'s scenes take place, and it is where the heaviest fighting occurred on D-Day. It is also where Robert Capa, combat photographer for Life magazine, found himself riding along in the landing craft with the second wave of troops.

Wading through the water, ducking behind steel obstacles, and eventually a disabled tank, Capa was snapping pictures left and right, totaling four rolls of film, 106 frames.

Capa made it back on one of the returning landing craft, holding his film bags over his head to prevent the film from getting wet. Upon the film reaching London, it was rushed to be developed. In the film technician's haste, 95 of the 106 frames were destroyed when the drying locker was set too high and the emulsion was melted away (this account of how the film was destroyed is still the subject of debate).

Of the 11 remaining frames, all are slightly out of focus. This is usually attributed to Capa's hands shaking in the intensity of the battle, intensity which the photos have immortalized and embody the horror of war that we must never forget. Until next time, thank you for reading.

(Information sourced from Wikipedia and The Daily Mail.)