1/13/2024 0 Comments Alfred eisenstaedt vj day photoAdditionally, the black and white symbolism of this picture is not limited to race. Whether or not the image is purposely staged this way, it sends a message that white America is the focal point of the war effort and celebration, hiding all others. Each person clearly depicted in the foreground has white skin and large smiles pasted happily upon their faces. The image focuses upon a very specific demographic, with “relations of class…masked by focusing on individuals” with qualities such as race “effaced, as the world worth saving appears to be a white world” (Carlson). It does not show the struggles of war or the contributions of those who were not white or wearing uniforms. The picture shows one side of the war, a pretty, romanticized, gleeful celebration of joy and hope. The main focus of the image is two young and presumably heterosexual Caucasian-Americans that have obviously been involved in the war effort. The photograph may be seen as representative of culture in the 1940s in its context and subject matter, but what it does not contain speaks even more. For this moment and this photo, the victory is abut the sailor and the nurse. By showing how anonymous war contributors celebrate their victory, “the photograph celebrates not merely the end of war, but the common people who won it” (Hariman). Concentrating on the pair hints at a greater story behind their embrace. Although there are people in the background, the picture focuses on the nurse and sailor. Their uniforms are the norm for a sailor and nurse in the 1940s, and the bystanders’ dress also draws tribute tot he era. The young male sailor with his dark uniform stands out at a sharp contrast to the woman he is holding, a female nurse in a white frock, tights, and heels. Upon first glance, the photograph has a simple focus. Audiences everywhere have since seen the photograph as an interpretation of American culture during the 1940s, and the civilian reaction to the second World War’s end. After the announcement was made, the crowd rejoiced, and an anonymous pair tht had been working for the war effort smacked lips in time for Eisendstaedt’s legendary picture. It was in this anxious atmosphere that over 200,000 people crowded into New York City’s Times Square on the afternoon of August 14, 1945, to watch the news bulletins in hope of hearing of the end of the war in Japan (Carlson). Americans everywhere waited hopefully for the end. The country rationed itself to provide for the war effort, and many people lost friends and family in the conflict. Although the United States of America was not a battleground, emotional turmoil spread throughout the country as Americans felt the fear, loss, and pain of war. World War II, which ended in 1945, was a long war that devastated a large portion of the globe. The early 1940s is not usually attributed as a time for celebration and excess. See Works Cited list below for direct link to Eisenstaedt’s image. Editor’s Note: This is the public domain version of Eisenstaedt’s famous image.
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