Alfred Eisenstaedt- V-J Day in Times Square'

One of the most famous photos of the twentieth century is Alfred Eisenstaedt's image titled "V-J Day in Times Square". "Made almost 70 years ago, it remains one of the most famous photographs—perhaps the most famous photograph—of the 20th century: a sailor kissing a nurse in Times Square on V-J Day in August 1945."(Cosgrove, 2014). It was made during the New York parade after the surrender of Japan. It was published a week later and became a symbol of victory and therefore a pop culture icon in American society. In this post I will try to describe what makes this photo so famous.

Alfred Eisenstaedt- V-J Day in Times Square', 1945

Alfred Eisenstaedt took his photo in New York's main square, Time Square. This is a photo taken during the day. It shows a sailor kissing a nurse. They are in the center of the photo and people are walking around them observing what they are doing. The identity of these people is unknown and they were probably complete strangers to each other, although there are a lot of people who claim to have established their identity. "Lois Gibson, a forensic artist with the Houston Police Department, is claiming that she has conclusively determined that the sailor in the photograph is Glenn McDuffie, 80, a North Carolina native who played semiprofessional baseball and worked in construction and for the Postal Service." ( Chan,2007). Everyone around is looking at this, and most of them are smiling to themselves. Today, such behavior is unacceptable, and as evidenced its ban by the American government. "An historic photograph of an American sailor kissing a woman in Times Square on VJ Day narrowly escaped a ban by the US government’s veterans affairs department for breaching its sexual harassment policy." (Driver, 2024). At the time, however, it was completely normal, and such behavior was only considered a sign of great joy. It is an expression of their satisfaction, happiness and relief caused by the end of the war, which was very demanding for many and took the lives of millions of people. The woman seems helpless and surprised by this situation, but she does not try to fight or resist. The sailor looks aggressive, and his behavior is not completely accepted by the woman, but she knows that she can't do anything.

This photo is a symbol of American victory, joy and relief caused by the end of the war. Despite the obvious failure to maintain boundaries and promote a toxic model of masculinity, this photo has become iconic. Probably because it was made in a completely different era where it wasn't perceived that way. Taking this into account, the photo is an attempt to capture the transience of the moment and the great joy of the entire society.

References

Chan, S. (2007). When a Kiss Isn’t Just a Kiss. [online] City Room. Available at: https://archive.nytimes.com/cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/08/06/that-times-square-smooch-right-to-the-kisser/ [Accessed 12 Apr. 2024].

Cosgrove, B. (2014). V-J Day, 1945: A Nation Lets Loose. [online] Time.com. Available at: https://time.com/3517476/v-j-day-1945-a-nation-lets-loose/ [Accessed 12 Apr. 2024].

Diver, T. (2024). Famous ‘non-consensual’ VJ Day kiss spared US government ban. [online] The Telegraph. Available at: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/news/2024/03/06/vj-day-kiss-picture-us-ban-non-consensual/ [Accessed 12 Apr. 2024].

Serafino , J. (2017). 9 Memorable Facts About Alfred Eisenstaedt’s ‘V-J Day in Times Square’. [online] Mental Floss. Available at: https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/502171/9-things-you-might-not-know-about-alfred-eisenstaedt [Accessed 12 Apr. 2024].

Diane Arbus- "Identical twins"

Diane Arbus is post-war photographer born in 1923. She was known as a controversial and eccentric artist, mostly because of her choice of the models."... Diane Arubs who was most single-minded in pursuit of highly distinctive subject matter: freaks, deviant loners, swingers, transvestites and, later, residents of mental institutions."(Dyer, 2011). She killed herself at the age of 48. In this post i will look closer on her photography of twin girls called "Identical Twins".

Diane Arbus – Identical Twins, Roselle, New Jersey, 1966

Many terms have been used to defines this famous image by Diane Arbus, including artistic, weird, eerie, or haunting. However, the photographer described it as "differentness in identicalness." Unlike most people, who “go through life dreading they’ll have a traumatic experience,” the “freaks” that interested Diane Arbus “were born with their trauma. They’ve already passed their test in life. (Clifford, n.d.). There are a lot of perspectives on this famous picture and what it means. Art and its form are always determined by the viewer. It is never the other way around, and the same stands for this image, in all it's uniqueness and magnificence. 

The photo maintains almost perfect symmetry. Two almost identical girls, dressed the same, with the same hairstyle stand against the wall. The photo has been cropped so that they are in the center and fill almost the entire photo. The girls look quite innocent, yet they cause anxiety and make the viewer feel uncomfortable.

Arbus managed to achieve this thanks to the details that she paid great attention to. This is due to their facial expressions. One girl is slightly smiling and has her eyes open, while the other has a slight grimace on her face and is squinting. These small differences, unnoticeable at first glance, are captured subconsciously and processed by our brain. This creates a feeling of dissonance in viewers of this photo.

This photo, like all other photographs taken by Arbus, shows difference and normalizes it. It may be a land of “freaks”, but within those pictures, even 70 years later, most New Yorkers will see a piece of themselves.(Revesz, 2016).
Although many people accused her of using her models, in my opinion, she tried to show that despite the differences, everyone is equal and the same. That no one is perfect and everyone has flaws, smaller or bigger. 

References

Clifford, B. (n.d.). Diane Arbus | MoMA. [online] The Museum of Modern Art. Available at: https://www.moma.org/artists/208 [Accessed 5 Apr. 2024].

Dyer, G. (2011). An Emergency in Slow Motion: The Inner Life of Diane Arbus, by William Todd Schultz – review. The Observer. [online] 22 Oct. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2011/oct/23/arbus-emergency-slow-motion-schultz [Accessed 5 Apr. 2024].

Revesz, R. (2016). The ‘freaks’ of old New York: Diane Arbus exhibition opens at the Met. [online] The Independent. Available at: https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/the-freaks-of-old-new-york-diane-arbus-exhibition-opens-at-the-met-a7133566.html [Accessed 5 Apr. 2024].