Shooting photographs as World War II
re-enactors shoot at each other
This is the third and final set of images from my time at the re-enactment of a World War II battle between the American and German armies. I was there to photograph the re-enactors as part of my Serving The Cause Of History project.
After spending some time getting to know the re-enactors and learning about their way of honoring history and our World War II veterans, it was time for them to stage the battle. The sides split up and began to relive a day in 1945 when the two armies met each other in combat somewhere in Germany. The rainy day gave an air of realism to the battle.
The gun fire erupted, mortars blazed and eventually the Americans won. These guys live for this! They are like kids playing war except they are in authentic uniforms and carrying period gear and weapons. While being out there with them, one experiences the fast-paced drama of battle without the fear of actually getting shot. Keeping track of it all with a camera is very difficult, especially coming from the school of slow and methodical landscape photography. It gives you respect for the commanders who have to keep track of and maneuver their troops on a rapidly changing battle field.
This is a new type of photography for me and I’d appreciate you taking the poll at the end of this post. Thanks!
The Battle
Returning Fire by Richard Lewis 2014
Realization of Fear by Richard Lewis 2014
Ammo Runner by Richard Lewis 2014
Taking Cover by Richard Lewis 2014
BAR Man by Richard Lewis 2014
Covering Fire by Richard Lewis 2014
Guarding the Wounded by Richard Lewis
Falling Back by Richard Lewis 2014
Retreat by Richard Lewis
The Victors by Richard Lewis
Click here for more of these photographs from this event that are on my website.
Rich, Terrific series and wonderful images. It is a great way to remember the sacrifices of the past.
Thanks, It was really quite an honor to work with these folks. A lot of fun too.
Do I see a job with CNN in your future? Nice work.
Thanks Pat, I’m not sure about a CNN gig. That would involve following around people who shoot real bullets at each other.
This series is developing nicely, at first I didn’t like the straight B/W.
Thanks, I originally intended for the whole series to be in black and white but as I started processing them color seemed more appropriate for most of them. I went to see the movie Fury before I did this project and I wonder if the gritty color imagery of that film had an influence on me.
Another wonderful set of images for your project. These are ‘action-packed’ and I like the sense of movement.
Thanks Denise. The whole time I shot this event I kept thinking of the action scenes in Saving Private Ryan and how the use of blurred gritty motion made them so real. On a couple of these images I purposely set the shutter speed to 120 and even 60 to get a slight sense of motion blur.
Well ‘Mr. War Correspondent’ my tour through the last 3 posts brought about a “whoa” moment for me… this is same guy that I can’t wait to see his latest (landscape) print at our monthly meetings!!!! What a fantastic way to open yourself and creative vision to us your followers. You sure did deliver… from the experience to the processing of the images. When a person’s pics reminds one of a time or movie (Band of Brothers) you know it had the right impact… congrats on so many levels!!!!