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This year marks the 73rd anniversary of the D-Day landings: a massive Allied forces invasion of the Nazi-occupied part of Europe launched on the beaches of Normandy during the World War 2. And to commemorate that fateful day, a Brazilian artist Marina Amaral have colorized the photos taken during one of the bloodiest encounters of WWII.
“The generation of World War II are almost all gone, so I think it is extremely important to rescue these photos through a process that interests the new generation – so maybe people will be able to better understand what happened. This is what I’ve been trying to do since I began colorizing photos two years ago,” Marina told Daily Mail.
For those who haven’t dealt with colorized photos before, it might be surprising to hear that each photo took artist days or even months to edit. Because it’s not simply adding color to the picture, it’s also doing a painstakingly thorough research and getting all the details right: “I like to keep in mind that I’m working with historical facts, and it’s not my job to change that story and make it look the way I want it to look.” From the uniform colors to the natural lighting that day, everything is considered and only then the actual coloring begins.
“Then I go slowly building up the atmosphere I want to reproduce, always keeping the original lighting in mind, through many different layers, exploring and using as many colors as I can.”
The results are simply breathtaking, giving us the perspective of these men who had to experience the horrors of war first-hand.
More info: Marina Amaral (h/t: dailymail)
The pictures emerged on the 73rd anniversary of Operation Overlord, which saw some 156,000 Allied troops landing in Normandy
Soldiers from the 16th Infantry Regiment, U.S. 1st Infantry Division wade ashore on Omaha Beach on the morning of June 6, 1944
D-Day medics From America’s 5th and 6th Engineer Special Brigade help wounded soldiers as they reach Omaha Beach. In the background, survivors of sunken landing craft who reached the beach by using a life raft are helped ashore
The cost of war: A stark image, colourised by a Brazilian artist, shows an Allied soldier lying dead in the sand in the wake of the D-Day landings
Clarence Ware applies war paint to Charles Plaudo in England on June 5, 1944. They were both members of the so-called Filthy Thirteen section of the US 101st Airborne Division. The idea came from unit sergeant Jake McNiece, who was part Chocataw and was designed to energize the men for the danger ahead
Royal Marine Commandos attached to 3rd Division move inland from Sword Beach on the Normandy coast on June 6, 1944. Thousands of British and US airborne troops parachuted into Ranville and St Mère-Église in Normandy
Men of the Royal Winnipeg Rifles on the march in Normandy in July 1944. Brazilian artist Marina Amaral painstakingly researched the images as she gave them a new lease of life with color using Photoshop
British Army’s Infantry of 50th Division moving forward near St Gabriel, Normandy, between Ver-sur-Mer and Crepon. Approximately 2,700 British troops lost their lives during the D-Day offensive
A US paratrooper is covered with a blanker after being killed in action near St Mere-Eglise in the days after thousands of allied soldiers had landed in Normandy
Captain J M Stagg (left), Chief Meteorological Officer with the Royal Air Force, was responsible for forecasting weather conditions for D-Day. Air Chief Marshal Sir Trafford Leigh-Mallory (right) was the Allied Air Commander in Chief.
