Who took the famous “V-J Day in Times Square” photograph?

Alfred Eisenstaedt took the famous “V-J Day in Times Square” photograph.

The image shows a U.S. Navy sailor kissing a woman in Times Square amid spontaneous celebrations on August 14, 1945. Eisenstaedt was working for Life magazine and captured the scene with a Leica IIIa camera. The photograph was later published in Life’s August 27 issue and became one of the best-known images associated with the end of World War II.

The woman was later identified as Greta Zimmer Friedman, a dental assistant, while the sailor was identified as George Mendonsa. For decades, however, several people claimed to be the sailor or the woman because Eisenstaedt did not record their names at the moment.

Victor Jorgensen photographed the same kiss from another angle for the U.S. Navy. His image, titled “Kissing the War Goodbye,” is sometimes confused with Eisenstaedt’s photograph. Eisenstaedt’s composition is the one most commonly known as “V-J Day in Times Square.”