CARNAGE IN COLOUR

Extraordinary colourised photos bring D-Day landings to life on 73rd anniversary of turning point in World War II

 Striking images capture troops bravely wading on to Omaha beach and bodies lying strewn on the sand

Marina Amaral   

Allied troops wade on to the shore at Normandy off the ramp of a US Coast Guard landing craft into heavy machine-gun fire from German coastal defence forces.  A total of 156,000 troops landed on the beaches

EXTRAORDINARY  photographs of the D Day landings have been colourised to mark the 73rd anniversary of the largest seaborne invasion in history.

Brazilian artist Marina Amaral has transformed the images in remembrance of one of the turning points of World War II where experts believe 4,400 allied troops lost their lives.


Each snap has had different tones layered on top of the original photographs to bring new depth to the images.
The emotive snaps capture some of the 156,000 troops that landed on the beaches of Normandy.

Marina Amaral    

Troops huddled into landing craft during the Normandy assault. Today is the 73rd anniversary of D-Day, the largest seaborne invasion in history

Others show British, Canadian and American military men bravely making their way across the coast, taking to shore at Omaha Beach, Juno Beach, Gold Beach, Sword Beach, Utah Beach and Point du Hoc.
Each image has been created following hours of research into the subject pictured, in order to make the retouching as realistic as possible.

Marina Amaral    

Soldiers Clarence Ware and Charles Plaudo of the 101st Airborne Division apply war paint, with the inspiration coming from their unit sergeant Jake McNiece, who was part Chocataw

Marina told The Sun: “I have always been fascinated by history since I was a kid, but the colourisation itself came into my life in a random and unexpected way.
“I was bored surfing the internet when I found a few colourised photos from the World War II in a forum.
“I was using Photoshop as a hobby for many years, so I already had a sense of how the software works and what tools I should use.

  

This D-Day scene captures a small naval craft on the bloodied beach where thousands of troops lost their lives. Many were cut down by German machine-gun fire before they even reached the shore line

 

        

“I tried to reproduce the atmosphere of the places and get as close as possible to what these soldiers actually saw with their own eyes.
“The generation of World War II is 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.”

Marina Amaral    

The corpse of a US soldier lays on Omaha Beach in Normandy. The D Day landings were one of the most decisive moments of World War II and marked the moment the Allied forces began to retake territory from the Nazis

Marina Amaral   

The 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

Marina has spent years honing her craft, using her love of history to develop the technique of painstakingly adding the different tones by hand.
She explained: “It was not as simple and easy as I first thought, but since then I’ve been practising, developing my own techniques and trying to improve a little bit every day.
“I’m such a perfectionist, so I haven’t given up on testing thousands of different techniques until the point that I was able to develop my own workflow.”

Marina Amaral    

Canadian Men of the Royal Winnipeg Rifles on the march in Normandy. The Winnipegs ‘B’ Company and Royal Canadian Engineers 6th Field Company assault team worked together and suffered one of the highest beach casualties on the day of the landing, losing almost three-quarters of their men

  

Royal Marine Commandos attached to 3rd Division move inland from Sword Beach on the Normandy coast. In the early hours of June 6, 1944, 20,000 British and American airborne soldiers descended by parachute and glider in the areas of Ranville and St Mère & Église in Normandy.

Although at first glance it may appear the colours have been selected randomly, Marina used the help of experts and research to keep the images as realistic as possible.
Each project takes hours to complete, with the Photoshop fanatic carefully looking into descriptions of colours of the skin, eyes, hair and clothing.
She confessed: “As I always like to say, I’m aware that this is history and it is not my business to make things look the way I want them to look.”

Marina Amaral    

A blanket covers body of a US paratrooper killed in action in the days following the Allied invasion. The fallen soldier was found near St Mere-Eglise, a commune in Normandy

Marina Amaral   

Captain J M Stagg, a British Royal Air Force meteorologist who helped choose the date of the landings and famously persuaded General Dwight D. Eisenhower to postpone by an extra day

She added: “I need to be respectful. Sometimes I have a little trouble with that part, so I need to seek the help of historians and experts. They are always very generous and helpful to me.”
Digital colourist Marina also revealed that while Photoshop is a helpful tool, she still has to build up the different tones by hand.
She said: “The process may seem simple, but it can be very complex and time-consuming. Everything is coloured by hand.”

Marina Amaral   

Air Chief Marshal Sir Trafford Leigh-Mallory, a senior commander in the Royal Air Force, he was appointed head of Fighter Command during the D-Day landings

Marina added: “Photoshop offers me the workspace and the tools, but the rest is all up to me. I need to go building up the colours through many different layers for every little detail until the point that I’m satisfied with the general look of the piece.
“It is like a giant colouring book or very similar to the process of traditional paintings.”
(The Sun, UK)