| “V-J Day in Times Square” is a photograph by Alfred Eisenstaedt (December 6, 1898 – August 23, 1995) that portrays a United States Navy sailor embracing and kissing a total stranger — a dental assistant — on Victory over Japan Day (“V-J Day”) in New York City’s Times Square. United States Navy photojournalist Lieutenant Victor Jorgensen (July 8, 1913 – June 14, 1994) captured this photo, another view of the same scene. Jorgensen’s photo was published in The New York Times the following day. Jorgensen titled his photograph “Kissing the War Goodbye.” It shows less of Times Square in the background, lacking the characteristic view of the complex intersection so that the location needs to be identified using other details. Unlike the Eisenstaedt photograph, which is protected by copyright, this Navy photograph is in the public domain because it was produced by a federal government employee on official duty. While the angle of the Jorgensen photograph may be less interesting artistically than that of the Eisenstaedt photograph, it clearly shows the exact location of the iconic kiss, as occurring in the front of the Chemical Bank and Trust building, with the Walgreens pharmacy sign on the building façade visible in the background. The astonished woman on the left in Jorgensen’s photograph has been positively identified as Kay Hughes Dorius (January 25, 1927 – December 24, 2018) of Utah. | |
| Image Filename | wwii1589.jpg |
| Image Size | 1,010.40 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 2780 x 2898 |
| Photographer | Victor Jorgensen |
| Photographer Title | United States Navy |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | August 14, 1945 |
| Location | |
| City | New York |
| State or Province | New York |
| Country | United States |
| Archive | National Archives and Records Administration |
| Record Number | NWDNS-80-G-377094 |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
Author of the World War II Multimedia Database