Personally, I really loathe this photo. I know it's objectively one of the most influential photos taken but frankly, it burns my buns. I understand the war had just ended but that doesn't mean a sailor can just grab whoever they want and smooch them. He has this lady in a weird headlock and for what? This is how he expresses relief? Maybe he was aware of Eisenstadt taking photos and wanted to be remembered forever? That was definitely achieved. There's also the guy in the background smiling (almost perversely) at this spontaneous moment, maybe he was thinking he'd try the same. I will acknowledge that you can't separate a piece from its time and that's the biggest disconnect for me.
Perhaps if I was born in a different generation, I might not despise it as much.
Photo by Alfred Eisenstadt, V-J Day in Times Square.
Bandit's Roost, Mulberry Street, Jacob Riis, circa 1888
This piece, I very much enjoy. It highlights the contrast between immigrants and others, and how they live. There may have been quite a lot of danger but they stuck together, for the most part. Different groups hated each other but they'd sort of come together when faced with authority figures. It reminds me of the conflicts in Ireland where, if a neighbor had anything "illegal" when police came to search, the people would lean out their windows and pass said items along. The cops rarely found anything due to this.
One can also create their own story from this, using minimal imagination. I love this.
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