A sailor is passionately kissing a nurse in Times Square, New York, in 1945. How much history can actually fit into a single picture? Imagine how many likes and shares it would have, if it was a photograph of today, uploaded on the social media. All these years, it has become a postcard, it has been turned into a poster, it is so famous around the world, that if you hear the word “kiss” you either think of Klimt’s painting or “The Kissing Sailor.” However, few know what lies behind this iconic photograph. First of all, the credit goes to photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt, who happened to be in the right place at the right time. Glenn McDuffie was 18 years old the day the Second World War ended. Having just come out of a subway station at Times Square, McDuffie, a sailor, heard the news, grabbed a nurse and kissed her. Alfred Eisenstaedt captured the moment and became the photographer who was synonymous with the end of the war and with the victory over Japan (V-J day). But Eisenstaedt had never asked for their names, so his picture might have been carrying the end of a world war, but the couple depicted on it remained unidentified until 1980, when the teacher Edith Shain from Los Angeles contacted “Life” magazine, stating that she was the woman in the picture! Eisenstaedt flew by plane just to meet her and confirmed it. A huge number of men claimed to be the sailor, but the identity of McDuffie was substantially confirmed in 2007 by a forensic specialist! Because joy and love are always expressed the same way – no matter how many years go by – we have gathered for you 11 pictures similar to “The Kissing Sailor”, mostly shot during the second world war, showing how a goodbye kiss (just before the war) can be as touching as the joyful kiss of reunion after a long period of time.
