Ransom Riggs
The Photograph That Isn’t as Romantic as You Might Think
by Ransom Riggs - November 11, 2009 - 2:23 PM

“V-J Day, Times Square, 1945,”
a.k.a. “The Kiss” Alfred Eisenstaedt, 1945

VJ-Day

On August 14, 1945, the news of Japan’s surrender was announced in the United States, signaling the end of World War II. Riotous celebrations erupted in the streets, but perhaps none were more relieved than those in uniform. Although many of them had recently returned from victory in Europe, they faced the prospect of having to ship out yet again, this time to the bloody Pacific.

Among the overjoyed masses gathered in Times Square that day was one of the most talented photojournalists of the 20th century, a German immigrant named Alfred Eisenstaedt. While snapping pictures of the celebration, he spotted a sailor “running along the street grabbing any and every girl in sight.” He later explained that, “whether she was a grandmother, stout, thin, old, didn’t make any difference.” Of course, a photo of the sailor planting a wet one on a senior citizen wouldn’t have made the cover of Life, but when he locked lips with an attractive nurse, the image was circulated in newspapers across the country. Needless to say, “V-J Day” didn’t capture a highly anticipated embrace by long-lost lovers, but it also wasn’t staged, as many critics have claimed. In any case, the image remains an enduring symbol of America’s exuberance at the end of a long struggle.

This post was excerpted from Ransom Riggs’ article “13 Photographs That Changed the World,” which appeared in a 2007 issue of mental_floss magazine.

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Comments (10)

  1. I guess it’s a fine line between “spontaneous act of joy” and “random sexual assault”.

    posted by Craig on 11-11-2009 at 2:41 pm

  2. Haha…yeah, her body language is sort of indicative of which of the two events she may have thought it was. And in 1945? I always perceived it as a time of public modesty, so I can’t imagine how humiliating this may have been for her then.

    posted by Nicole on 11-11-2009 at 3:04 pm

  3. I love that there are at least 2…if not 3…different (very elderly) ladies garnering fame by claiming to be the nurse in the photo.

    posted by Fredd in Harlem on 11-11-2009 at 3:07 pm

  4. Actually, the line is in time–before some time, that was a non-sexual Or asexual, if you prefer) exuberant display of joy with no assault or other evil involved. (We can assume at least acquiescence, if not active participation because she was there, she would have seen what was going on and could have signaled non-participant status (the standard signal for which was a firm slap across the face)).

    After that time it is sexual assault because there is a man involved.

    posted by Larry Sheldon on 11-11-2009 at 3:13 pm

  5. I remember the first time someone told me the true story of that photograph. It didn’t surprise me in the least. For some reason I had always assumed it to be a spontaneous thing between strangers. I’m not sure why, but it never even occurred to me that they might be sweethearts–maybe it has to do with the body language, as Nicole said. Or maybe it’s because they’re in Times Square, and that doesn’t seem to me like the most apt “you’ve been away at war and I haven’t seen you in months/years” reunion spot.

    I realize that many (most?) people automatically think of it the other way around. I think it’s interesting that different people interpret photographs like this in different ways.

    posted by AMT on 11-11-2009 at 3:58 pm

  6. I’m with AMT, it had never occured to me that they could have been lovers.

    posted by cami on 11-11-2009 at 7:00 pm

  7. I heard that Eisenstaedt had seen this guy grabbing and kissing the random women, then out of the corner of Eisenstaedt’s eye he saw the guy grab “something white” and he quickly turned and got the shot because he thought that the white would look good against the man’s dark uniform.

    I think he was right :)

    Longest ReCaptcha ever: profited orthopsychiatric.

    posted by Jo on 11-11-2009 at 7:24 pm

  8. AMT, add me to the list: I have never thought of the two as lovers but just a spontaneous joy…and I never got the impression the lady knew what was coming owing to her body language.

    posted by Zane on 11-12-2009 at 10:28 am

  9. I think I read somewhere that she had a good laugh over it after she smacked him. I could be wrong. Either way, it’s a sweet picture that really captures a happy time.

    posted by MN on 11-12-2009 at 11:49 am

  10. I love that picture. It’s always been so controversial in our society. But I think it sends a good message

    posted by Ben on 1-18-2010 at 2:42 pm

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