Les Braves

Anilore Banon's steel wings out on the sand at Omaha, flags along the shore behind them and the sun coming through.

It went up in 2004 for the sixtieth anniversary, and it stands below the tide line where the water comes round it twice a day. Three parts: the wings of hope, rise freedom, the wings of fraternity. In practice it is a large piece of steel on an enormous empty beach, and the beach wins.

That is not a criticism of the sculpture. Nothing you put on Omaha is going to be bigger than Omaha.

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.