The Kiss
Initially photography was used to capture the
portraits of then social elites and social landscape. As Abraham Lincoln once
said, “There are no bad pictures; that’s just how your face looks sometimes.”
Salman Rushdie, went further by saying “A photograph is a moral
decision taken in one eighth of a second.” Correct it is a mechanical
process and your creative decision.
I remember a very famous photograph ‘The
Kiss’. They were the days of Second World War. People from all over the word
were tired of this continuous ongoing war. Every day use to start with a bomb
raid or some shootout. All café and public space were crowed to grab the
updates of World War. An unknown photographer who has his task to click the
photograph as he got the news war is over on 14th August 1945. He was on Times
Square and what he saw was a ship just landed in harbor and people are running
here and there. He had a ordinary camera and was wondering what to shoot.
Suddenly he saw a sailor running on street and grabbed a nurse, who came out on
road, didn't knew what to do. As she also received the news of
World War is over. He locked lips with her and photographer captured them
without knowing them as well as he also did not realize the potential of the
photo. George Mendonsa was the sailor and Greta Friedman, a nurse, in her white
uniform. It was world famous photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt who clicked this
picture. Life magazine published this photo. George and Greta went home without
exchanging any address or message. It was just the happiness they shared. Greta
realized when she saw this photo in magazine. For Life magazine the pair is
unknown and even for the world. This photograph acquired the iconic status of
Second World War photographs. In 1980 Life magazine asked this pair to step
forward. George and Greta who have already chosen their own path of life and
did not meet each other before and after that photo they met once again.
If we see the ‘kiss’ photo even today we find the
sheer happiness of both people and the marvelous pose in enthusiasm. The end of
war or VJ day is celebrated then onward every year and memories cherished. The
very purpose of photography is to capture essence of life. It does not mean to
go on clicking candid photos. We need to understand the event and its
importance first. Then reset fall in place. World war is not only fought on
borders or on land. It is also fought on the level of psychology, ideology,
belief and mankind. A photo which will represent it has to portray all the
emotions. What we find in ‘The kiss’ is the two human from different walk of
life as their uniforms portray. They are on road, it’s a naked reality in broad
day light and it is love gesture that they exchange. We find the sheer
innocence and expression of suppressed emotions. This way it perfectly staples
the VJ day or end of World War II.
Even today we need to understand the importance of
photography. Photography ignites your imagination to explore various thoughts
associated with that particular time and place. Video kills your imagination
and nothing left to further imagine. It offers a full stop to story.
I liked the article. Especially, these lines must be read by every photographer...
ReplyDelete"The very purpose of photography is to capture essence of life. It does not mean to go on clicking candid photos. We need to understand the event and its importance first. Then reset fall in place. World war is not only fought on borders or on land. It is also fought on the level of psychology, ideology, belief and mankind."
I liked the article. Especially, these lines must be read by every photographer...
ReplyDelete"The very purpose of photography is to capture essence of life. It does not mean to go on clicking candid photos. We need to understand the event and its importance first. Then reset fall in place. World war is not only fought on borders or on land. It is also fought on the level of psychology, ideology, belief and mankind."