Four Miles of It

Omaha at low tide under a high sun, with a handful of people on it who read as punctuation.

The beach runs about four miles. At low water there is a quarter of a mile of open sand between the sea and the shingle, and on 6 June 1944 men had to cross it carrying everything, in daylight, into fire coming down from the bluffs along the top.

Now there are windbreaks and dogs. The distance is the only thing left in the photograph that tells you anything, and it tells you plenty.

Omaha Beach, Vierville-sur-Mer, Normandy. August 2019. Canon 6D Mark II, 16–35mm.

Printed at 45 × 30 cm through WhiteWall in Berlin. Choose Ilford or Baryta paper, as a plain print or framed — what the finishes actually mean.