Troops landing on Omaha Beach in Normandy

A single file of American soldiers trudges across Omaha Beach in Normandy, their backs bent under heavy packs and helmets pulled low. This black and white photograph was taken in June 1944 during the D-Day landings, one of the biggest military operations ever attempted. Floating above the men are odd oval shapes called barrage balloons, tethered to the ground to keep enemy planes from flying in low. Scattered through the background sit trucks, a crane, and the tangled tire tracks of vehicles that had already fought their way across the sand.

Robert Capa, who made this image, was among the boldest war photographers of his time. He came ashore with the troops that morning, camera in hand, putting himself squarely in harm's way. Many of his shots from that day turned out blurry, thanks partly to the mayhem around him and partly to a darkroom accident that ruined most of his film. Oddly enough, that ruined film gave the surviving frames their electric, unsteady energy, a feeling no carefully composed picture could ever fake.

Capa lived by a simple rule, that a good photo meant getting close to whatever was happening, and here he practically stood inside the storm. The lasting power of this picture comes as much from the nerve it took to capture it as from the scene itself. Behind moments that change history, there is usually someone willing to walk into the danger and quietly press the shutter.