 The excitement in the air is unimaginable as U.S citizens receive word that the deadliest war of the century has ended. Americans from all over New York city came rushing into Times Square to celebrate the freedom won. The United States had just won WWII. This news of Japan raising their white flag in surrender was like a weight being lifted off the country’s shoulder. This news was a relief to the U.S because most were not expecting the war to end as sudden as it did. This image V-Day in Times Square, is one of the most iconic and well-known photos in history capturing a young navy man and a nurse in the middle of Times Square. By looking at the image we can see the use of proportion, focal point, and the colors that represent a bigger meaning to the picture. The image is much more than two strangers sharing a kiss in the middle of the street, it is the celebration, relief, and being grateful to be an American. 

The most prominent photographic element in the image is the alignment of the navy sailor and the nurse. The man and woman are dead set in the center of the image kissing which automatically draws the viewers to them which makes them the focal point. The angle of the photo is not a coincidence; the image was taken to show the couple closer in the photo than others, causing the viewers to draw their attention to them. The other people in the image are not only shown by being blurry by the photographer, they also do not even notice the two people in the photo kissing. By the photographer blurring the people and buildings in the back ground, it created and caused the navy man and the nurse to obtain a certain sharpness to the photo causing them to stick out. By doing so, the photographer wanted his viewers to experience how he saw the image. Therefore, the blurriness creates a spatial and depth perception between the navy sailor and nurse.

Moreover, the contrast between the proximity and distance the main focal point has from the other elements in the photo creates the two to seem as a separate photo. The images behind the man and woman are blurred which creates a contrast between the vividness of the couple kissing and the un-important people behind them. The density and fullness of the image creates a sense that the background and main image are from two different photos that happened to get merged into one. Staring at the image only proves that theory for example, people are everywhere behind the two kissing but the couple without a doubt sticks out. The proportion as well as ratio of the navy man and nurse are three to one, the couple is almost three times bigger than anyone else in the image. Another important element is the body shape of the two. The man and woman have one combined look which makes the two look original or actually “caught in the moment.” Some people believe this image was “staged” but in my opinion their posture together portrays opposite and happened in real life. Although, we may not be able to see the woman’s expressions on her face her body language tells us that she was shocked and that the kiss was not staged. The man’s body is stiff and looks as the kiss is almost being forced or just that he is confident, but no doubt has a posture that also proves that the kiss was absolutely in the moment. 

The photograph quality and limited color choices still could not put a damper on the image’s underlying meaning and the elements that supported it. The time period this image was taken was back when the color options were only black and white, the era was not technologically advanced, but still does not make the two colors any less important than the other colored visual images. The navy man in the image is wearing all black except his hat. When we all think about the color black it signifies darkness, war, death, and even depression. The man represents WWII and all of the lives lost from the war. He also represents the feeling of the people in the United States that had to wake up in fear that their loved one might be next, or the feeling that the world was losing hope, wondering when the war will cease. Despite the man’s heavy image, the nurse woman is wearing all white which signifies purity, honesty, traditional, and innocence. In this photo the various symbols of the color white are proven to be accurate. The nurse symbolizes the traditional role of a woman back in the time period, and the pureness and peacefulness she creates in the world. By the woman’s posture in the photo one of her legs is kicked up showing her gracefulness. The two opposing colors that the couple are wearing created the bigger picture and represents the world as a whole, combining the darkness of war and the innocence of peace to show that the two eventually coincide.

 Albert Eisenstaedt never imagined the amount of fame he was about to receive from a single photo he took. At the time Americans had already finished their first World war and now waiting to hear from their second. The news was a huge deal and Albert himself wanted to be a part of it. He wanted to partake in the celebration of the United States winning the war, so he saw the opportune moment to take a picture of a retuning soldier and a healer of the wounded. Little did he know that this would be a phenomenon. The goal of the photographer was merely to capture his own perspective of relief and peace through the navy man and nurse. He wanted people to see what he saw that day. Not only did the photographer portray the elements that were previously there but as well as created his own. It was simply the photographers use of colors, focal point, and spatial distribution that created one of the most well-known images today. With one single photo, Alfred separated an era of darkness, pain, misery, to the beginning of a peaceful, hope-filled new one.
