![\"\"](\"https:\/\/folio.solidsight.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/The-Kiss-Aboard-the-USS-Iowa-Battleship.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nTitle: \u00a0Statue of\u00a0 Alfred Eisenstaedt’s V-J Day Life Magazine \u00a0Photograph Aboard the USS Iowa Battleship<\/p>\n
Location\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 San Pedro, California December 2012<\/p>\n
Technical\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Fuji GA645w (cha-cha no slide bar ), Fuji Provia F100<\/p>\n
Comments \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In 2012 the West Coast\u2019s only Battleship opened to the public in San Pedro with the USS Iowa.\u00a0\u00a0 The self-guided tour takes you on a journey through World War II, the Korean War, and the Cold War to experience the life of a sailor on the lead ship of the last class of gunships.\u00a0 \u00a0The USS Iowa was the only ship of her class to have served in the Atlantic Ocean during World War II.\u00a0\u00a0 Despite the 16\u201d guns, 5\u201d guns, missile decks, bridge, mess areas, and world famous Captain\u2019s Cabin – with the only bathtub installed on a battleship for a President, the most interesting item on the boat for me was this statue errected of the photograph of the nurse\u2019s iconic kiss that marked the end of World War II.\u00a0 The battleship alone is certainly a symbol of this and world peace but for a public display, they chose to combine the weapon of a battleship with the softness of a kiss.\u00a0 The lasting power of a single photograph lives on.<\/p>\n
On Aug. 14, 1945 New York City\u2019s Times Square went dark at 7 p.m. and then at 7:03 p.m.,more than 750,000 people roared in jubilation as the words \u201cOFFICIAL\u2014TRUMAN ANNOUNCES JAPANESE SURRENDER\u201d blazed across the news scroll.\u00a0 Elated by the news, people in the crowd were hugging and crying tears of joy, but it was a far different experience for Edith Shain, a nursing school student.\u00a0 \u201cThis sailor just grabbed me and kissed me,\u201d she said. \u201cAny female closes her eyes when she\u2019s about to kiss so I never saw the guy, and then I walked away. I was kind of embarrassed. I didn\u2019t say anything about it to anyone.\u201d\u00a0 What Shain didn\u2019t realize, until a week later, was that her \u201cindiscretion\u201d was caught on film. While browsing a copy of a Life magazine, Shain, then 27-years-old, recognized herself in what has became an iconic photo titled \u201cV-J Day\u201d (Victory over Japan) of a sailor slightly dipping a nurse in a white uniform and kissing her.\u00a0 Of the kiss, Shain said, \u201cIt was very nice, and of course, it was in the days before you\u2019d scream and go to an attorney. It was the best of times.\u201d\u00a0 The famous photo was taken by Alfred Eisenstaedt, a photojournalist for Life Magazine. In his memoirs, Eisenstaedt explained, “Suddenly, in a flash, I saw something white being grabbed.\u00a0 I turned around and clicked the moment the sailor kissed the nurse\u2026.People tell me that when I am in heaven they will remember this picture.\u201d\u00a0 Though Eisenstaedt died in 1995 at the age of 96, the celebrated picture has not lost its significance.\u00a0 In celebration of the 60th anniversary of V-J Day, Shain flew to New York City where a slightly larger-than-life-size statue titled \u201cUnconditional Soldier\u201d by J. Seward Johnson based on the Life photograph was unveiled on Aug. 11, in Times Square.<\/p>\n