The impact of changing morals on the interpretation of visual icons
“When I’m not on this earth anymore, people will remember that picture [..] of V-J day 15th of August 1945,” . The V-J day kiss in Times Square is one of the most famous photographs by German-born Alfred Eisenstaedt (1898-1995). The excitement in the photograph is representational for the overall mood in America on the day of the victory over Japan. Photographers of Life Magazine were sent to several places in America, like Washington, Miami, Kansas City, and, in the case of Alfred Eisenstaedt, New York, Times Square. Their assignment: capture the celebrations of the victory over Japan. Their photos were published in LIFE Magazine of the 27th of August 1945. Two pages were filled with V-J Day Kisses, titled “The Men of War kiss from Coast to Coast”, of which Eisenstaedt’s photograph filled an entire page
In our modern society, editors of newspapers and magazines would think twice before publishing such photographs. Upon hearing Eisenstaedt’s description of the situation, namely a sailor kissing every woman he came across, the photograph would be either rejected or published with a caption speaking out negatively on the situation. In this paper, this discrepancy between the context of the original publication and the modern society is analysed. To this end, the motive behind the original publications, the reasons for a positive reception, the afterlife of the photograph and the present-day status of the photograph are discussed.