OT: the most reproduced photo in history taken on this day

[dcsang]

<snip>

The kiss in Times Square on VJ Day taken by Alfred Eisenstadt has been reproduced a few times too.</snip>

I recall seeing a news item on that photo recently (within the last year) that stated that the photo was actually "staged" and not an "HCB moment" per se.

That is, the kiss itself was staged; the surroundings were obviously going on at the time but the actual subjects were, in fact, not just "there" but were placed there.

Anyone else see that ?

Dave

 

[Chaser]

Take this with a grain of salt. I always thought it was a shame that the Rosenthal picture recieved a Pulitzer instead of the work that Eugene Smith did on Iwo Jima. Smith showed true humanity for both sides of the warand Rosenthal just had a great picture signifying victory. A great picture and an intersting idea none the less. I wonder how reproduced this photo is outside of the US as compaired to some other major photos?

 

[FrankS]

That was my (unstated) point too, Chaser.

 

[JoeFriday]

regarding the Eisenstadt kiss photo.. I was perusing a postcard rack this past weekend and saw that image on one.. it was attributed to "Unknown".. which really meant that the postcard printing company was too lazy to look it up.. sad for such a well-known image

 

[SolaresLarrave]

The most recent controversy about a staged street shot was about Doisneau's kiss in front of the Hotel de Ville, in Paris. I didn't know the Einsedstadt shot had been staged too! 😱

In any case, let's agree on that the iconic flag raising is an often reproduced photo. Who knows which one is the most reproduced? What effect would it have to know it? It's just a case of fragile trivia to yours-truly.

 

[oftheherd]

The Outsider (1961): the movie in which Tony Curtis played the role of Ira Hamilton, one of the men who raised the flag at Iwo Jima.

More info here

Francisco, I think that was Ira Hayes. I remember seeing that movie when it came out. Quite poignant. Ira Hayes was a Pima Indian.

PTSD was not recognized as such then, or even after WWI. They were just called "shell shocked." Ira Hayes obviously suffered from that. He died face down, drowned in a couple of inches of water, in a ditch, where he had passed out drunk. Like many others, he had great difficulty coping, and chose the only escape he could find, from inside a bottle.

God bless all who have served their country, or are now; whatever nation.

 

[Kin Lau]

That is, the kiss itself was staged; the surroundings were obviously going on at the time but the actual subjects were, in fact, not just "there" but were placed there.

Anyone else see that ?

Dave

I could be getting the pics mixed up, but I believe it was the subject of the photo's who came forward demanding more $$$ and recounted the story of how they were asked/told/paid to stage the kiss.

 

[aterlecki]

I wonder how reproduced this photo is outside of the US as compaired to some other major photos?

In the UK I mostly see it used by satrirical cartoonists (not really a reproduction).

There was a great series last year in the UK called "Decisive Moments: The Photographs That Made History" which covered in detail this image along with many other greats (Che, the earth from space, etc). I'm going to dig it out to watch again but I remember Rosenthal saying something akin to the photo having caused him more grief than pleasure in his life to the point where he sometimes wished he hadn't taken it.

 

[ch1]

The power of Rosenthal's picture is such that 56 years after it was shot it inspired the firemen amidst the wreckage of the WTC on 9/11 to similarly raise a flag.

That is one very powerful icon!

Oh, BTW, I thought of the Che photo too - but much of its iconic imagery is "derivative" from after it was turned into a graphic.


The "Mao" portrait might indeed have been reproduced more.

Yes, apparently the "kiss" was staged as revealed when it was recreated in TSQ this past August for the 60th anniversary of VJ-day. This anniversary "event" received a lot of press coverage and included that fact. But HCB "posed" some of his photos too (oh, oh, now I'm in trouble..... 😱 )

 

[dmchadderton]

I thought the most reproduced photo was the one with the Tennis girl wearing no underwear as she lifted the back of her skirt whilst walking toward the net - apparently that sold in the millions?!

 

[ch1]

I thought the most reproduced photo was the one with the Tennis girl wearing no underwear as she lifted the back of her skirt whilst walking toward the net - apparently that sold in the millions?!

Never saw THAT one - maybe you could upload it! 😀

 

[fgianni]

😀

Never saw THAT one - maybe you could upload it! 😀

Yes please, do enlighten us!

 

[doubs43]

I didn't know the Einsedstadt shot had been staged too! 😱

I still don't know that it was staged and every account I've read about it indicates that it wasn't.

The Sailor has never been positively ID'd and the Nurse - to the best of my knowledge - has only recently come forward. It seems to me that both would have given their names to Eisenstadt if it was a staged shot.

Eisie has always maintained that he saw a Sailor kissing pretty much every woman he came close to so he waited for the right moment with the famous picture the result.

I'm not saying it wasn't "staged" but I'll need more proof than has been offered so far.

Add me to the list of those who'd like to see the tennis shot! 😀

Walker

 

[Todd.Hanz]

As a former Marine I can tell you I've seen this image more times than any other image in my memory, it is posted everywhere on base. General Chesty Puller would be the second most recognizable icon on base along side "Pappy" Boyington and crew of the infamous Blacksheep squadron ( where I was stationed). Che' t-shirts weren't a big hit for some reason 🙂

Semper Fi
Todd

 

[Peter Klein]

The most recent controversy about a staged street shot was about Doisneau's kiss in front of the Hotel de Ville, in Paris.

. . . Which, by happy coincidence, is on the cover of the current Atlantic Monthly.

--Peter

 

[Peter Klein]

Eisie has always maintained that he saw a Sailor kissing pretty much every woman he came close to so he waited for the right moment with the famous picture the result.

I could swear that I heard an NPR feature about this photo on All Things Considered in the last year or two. I believe they located and interviewed both the sailor and the young woman. According to them, the picture was not staged.

(OK, now let's debate the authenticity of Capa's "Death of a Loyalist Soldier." Or not). 😀

--Peter

 

[aterlecki]

(OK, now let's debate the authenticity of Capa's "Death of a Loyalist Soldier." Or not). 😀

I heard he kept demanding more loyalist soldiers to be shot after he kept missing the decisive moment. He got there in the end. 😉

 

[AGN]

On a lighter note, there was more than a few repro's of Marilyn Munroe, standing on the grate, with her skirt being blown up in the air.
Art

 

[Nick R.]

Maybe it's because I'm from Jersey, but the Hindenberg burning always springs to mind when I think of impact photos.
But as far as most reproduced, the fifties saw the birth of the populist icon and photos of Monroe, Mantle, and Einstein were everywhere

 

[doubs43]

Maybe it's because I'm from Jersey, but the Hindenberg burning always springs to mind when I think of impact photos.
But as far as most reproduced, the fifties saw the birth of the populist icon and photos of Monroe, Mantle, and Einstein were everywhere

Nick, my father recounted seeing the Hindenberg fly over shortly before it's tragic end. Apparently the part of Maryland where he lived - and I grew up - was in the flight path of the Hindenberg.

Walker