Every year, World War II Days takes over the grounds of Midway Village Museum and turns it into a living, breathing 1940s world. For 2026, it’s slated for September 26–27, and the museum’s 148-acre campus becomes the backdrop for a “frontline village” vibe complete with Allied and Axis encampments in the woods, narrated battles, and an impressive lineup of tanks, half-tracks, and other WWII vehicles. Add in pyrotechnics, skirmishes, demos, vintage displays, and even period music and lectures, and it’s easy to see why people call it the biggest WWII reenactment in the Midwest.

Photographing it on film is where it went from “cool event” to full-on time portal. I brought my Rollei 3.5B MX-EVS Type 2 (Xenar 75mm) and Pentax 6×7 MLU, and every frame came back with this eerie, beautiful realism, like the photos weren’t made so much as found. Film grabs the grit, the glow, the texture of uniforms and gear, and it pairs perfectly with a reenactment that’s already obsessively detailed. The result is a set of images I’m genuinely in love with, because the vibes aren’t pretending, they’re present.