Inspired by some very old, musty prints and tales from my mum and dad about living and working through WW2, I set out to shoot some images that represented that era. Through some research, I found a guy called Manny who had a collection of WW2 memorabilia — and that’s a huge understatement — who was also located not far from me.

As expected, Manny was very passionate about the era, and travelled to many re-enactments both here and abroad during the summer months. During our call, he mentioned the authentic 750cc 1943 Harley Davidson he had, and a U.S. infantryman’s uniform as worn in the D-Day invasion.

At that point, the image came together, at least in my head. We decided to create a story where a U.S. Army despatch rider from headquarters company is delivering messages to and from various units, set in a forest in northern France. My next job was to find the location and arrange the logistics of getting Manny and his bike there.

Manny was a dream to work with, bringing authentic maps, rifles, and more, giving us plenty of options to try. As my work is about quiet moments, I worked around the narrative of the rider taking a rest from his dangerous assignment.