D-Day Conneaut Ohio 2022
D-Day Conneaut Ohio is a premier living history event and one of the largest and most realistic World War II reenactments in the United States. I have been volunteering as a staff photographer since 2016 and this year, I was honored to take the role of the lead staff photographer for the event. My job as the lead is to make sure that all the staff photographers have gotten coverage of all aspects of the event. This is important because the pictures taken by the staff photographers are then uploaded to the D-Day event page and the sales of the photographs help support the following year’s event.
During the three-day event, over 1,500 reenactors portray both military and civilians, which are all centered around the D-Day invasion on June 6, 1944. The grounds of Conneaut feature a long, flat sandy beach along Lake Erie as well as a steep hill at the back end, very similar in appearance to Normandy, France. Each of the represented countries has a camp set up in different areas in the park, allowing the public to feel like they are entering that specific country when walking around.
Being a photographer at the event gives you the opportunity to experience what it was like on the beaches of Normandy in 1944. Every detail is carefully planned to give the event realism so each time I go I see something new I hadn’t seen the year before.
To finish off the weekend event, the reenactors attend a 1940s jazz dance. During the dance, I set up a vintage portrait booth so all the reenactors can get classic-looking photos in their uniforms and best outfits.
The 2023 D-Day Ohio event is scheduled for August 17-19. Be sure to check it out, you won’t be disappointed.
