“V-J Day in Times Square”, an image captured by Alfred Eisenstaedt on August 14th, 1945, at almost 6:00PM, is also sometimes called “The Kiss” or “V-Day”. No matter the name, this iconic and immediately recognizable photograph was able to enthrall a nation by capturing the emotion of the day the US won World War II. I have always been drawn to how this image completely captures the moment of spontaneity between two strangers when a sailor embraces a girl (sometimes described as a nurse, or just as a white-clad girl). Happiness, romance, and surprise, this moment of celebration has become iconic for the time period. The aesthetic of the photo is visually pleasing, which is impressive for it not being staged, as the stark white of the girl’s clothes are great contrasts to the sailor’s dark uniform. The grand buildings of Times Square frame the photo perfectly with only a sliver of overexposed sky (a mark of the time period in which the photo was taken). Another factor adding to my interest in this photo is the story I associate with it. In middle school, we were assigned a project to interview a relative and have them tell us about a time in their life. My maternal grandmother, born in 1942, told me the story of how her family celebrated V-Day by driving down Main Street in High Point, NC, to greet soldiers and sailors returning home. The car was approached by a young sailor who leaned his head into the Ford and asked my great grandfather if he could kiss my grandmother, a toddler at the time. He then explained his request a little more, saying that when he left to fight he vowed to kiss the first blonde girl he saw upon returning home to High Point, and as my great aunts and great grandmother were all brunettes, my three year old grandmother was the first blonde girl the sailor laid eyes upon. Although the story behind Eisenstaedt’s photo is far well known than that of my grandmother, the two stories are always associated in my mind, reminding me of the celebration and spontaneity that shaped America’s modern history.
R Weaver