between the mountains

Sometimes we forget how a thing looks. The precise details of an event or the faces of people we knew. Memory can be a fickle thing. But we are in luck, because we have things that can remind us, we have words, films and photographs that can show us how things were. Right?

( cut for picture )

This picture was taken in Normandy on the 6. June, 1944, also known as D-Day. It was taken by Robert Capa who was known for saying that "If your pictures aren't good enough, you're not close enough." True to his own motto Capa joined the Allied landing as part of the first assault wave, armed not with a gun but a camera.
( and another picture )

Sadly for Capa, but interestingly for posterity, Life magazine who had commissioned the pictures had a little dark room mishap, and thereby destroyed most of the film.
Of the over a hundred pictures Capa had taken, only 11 frames survived, and the photos developed a grainy, shaky feel. Life magazine printed them anyway and claimed the pictures where unclear and out of focus because Capa’s hand was shaking with excitement, and he therefore couldn’t focus properly.
( and further pictures )

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A big thanks to semyaza who made the comment about how we could forget how things looked - and somehow that comment started all this.
And also to applegnat who had some very good points about Troy, as well as what happens to fiction when we try to turn it into fact. Cheers! :)

ETA: Somehow the introduction fell out. *facepalm* It's there now, and hopefully it makes more sense now.