Description
By Alfred Eisenstaedt August 14, 1945
V-J Day in Times Square photograph by Alfred Eisenstaedt August 14, 1945, portrays a U.S. Navy sailor embracing and kissing a total stranger (a dental assistant) on Victory over Japan Day (“V-J Day”) in New York City’s Times Square. The photograph was published a week later in Life magazine, among many photographs of celebrations around the United States that were presented in a 12-page section entitled “Victory Celebrations”.
Eisenstaedt was photographing a spontaneous event that occurred in Times Square during keen public anticipation of the announcement of the end of the war with Japan (that would be made by U.S. President Harry S. Truman at seven o’clock). Eisenstaedt said that he did not have an opportunity to get the names and details, because he was photographing rapidly changing events during the celebrations. The photograph does not clearly show the face of either person involved, and numerous people have claimed to be the subjects. The photograph was shot just south of 45th Street looking north from a location where Broadway and Seventh Avenue converge. Donald W. Olson and his investigative team estimate that the photograph was taken at 5:51 p.m. ET. In their history pages, Life has noted that the Eisenstaedt photograph was taken with a Leica IIIa camera. Original Text: Wikipedia
