--- description: The woman photographed in the iconic picture of a World War II sailor kissing a nurse died Thursday at the age of 92 title: The Story Behind the Iconic WWII Kissing Photo image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1db6f39d31a5cc24/6988a5b5a988ca2fbe6b961d/eisenstaedt-v-j-day.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [History](/section/history/) ## History Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # The Story Behind the Iconic WWII Kissing Photo by [Mahita Gajanan](/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Updated: Jan 24, 2024 12:27 PM CUTPublished: Sep 11, 2016 6:29 PM CUT  Caption from the August 27, 1945, issue of LIFE. "In the middle of New York's Times Square a white-clad girl clutches her purse and skirt as an uninhibited sailor plants his lips squarely on hers." Caption from the August 27, 1945, issue of LIFE. "In the middle of New York's Times Square a white-clad girl clutches her purse and skirt as an uninhibited sailor plants his lips squarely on hers."Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images by [Mahita Gajanan](/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Updated: Jan 24, 2024 12:27 PM CUTPublished: Sep 11, 2016 6:29 PM CUT The woman photographed in the iconic picture of a World War II sailor kissing a nurse [died Thursday at the age of 92](http://time.com/4486788/wwii-kiss-photo-woman-dies/?xid=homepage "undefined"). Greta Zimmer Friedman, identified later as the nurse in the photo, became the subject of perhaps the most iconic photo taken on V-J Day on Aug. 14, 1945\. Taken by photographer Alfred Eisentaedt, the picture captured the jubilance people felt upon the war’s end. The photo, published in LIFE, caught the U.S. at a moment of pure relief and represented people letting go of their inhibitions. An examination of that day in 1945 reveals [how people celebrated](http://time.com/3517476/v-j-day-1945-a-nation-lets-loose/ "undefined"): --- > “” --- As the photo drew fame over the 20th century, rumors swirled over the identities of the kissers. Many people also view the photo as depicting sexual assault, and not something to be celebrated. Friedman was a 21-year-old dental assistant, out in Times Square when news of the war’s end broke. George Mendonsa, who in 2015 [confirmed he was the man in the photo](http://time.com/3998602/v-j-day-kissing-soldier-identity/ "undefined"), saw Friedman for the first time, spun her around and kissed her. “It wasn’t that much of a kiss,” Friedman, who came forward as the woman in the photo years later, said in a 2005 interview with the Veterans History Project. “It was just somebody celebrating. It wasn’t a romantic event.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4486812/wwii-kiss-photo-vj-day/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4486812/wwii-kiss-photo-vj-day/"},"headline":"The Story Behind the Iconic WWII Kissing Photo","datePublished":"2016-09-11T18:29:52.000Z","dateModified":"2024-01-24T12:27:15.000Z","description":"The woman photographed in the iconic photo died Thursday at the age of 92","url":"https://time.com/4486812/wwii-kiss-photo-vj-day/","keywords":["World War II"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1db6f39d31a5cc24/6988a5b5a988ca2fbe6b961d/eisenstaedt-v-j-day.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mahita Gajanan","jobTitle":"Gajanan is an editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/"}],"articleSection":"History","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1db6f39d31a5cc24/6988a5b5a988ca2fbe6b961d/eisenstaedt-v-j-day.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Caption from the August 27, 1945, issue of LIFE. \"In the middle of New York's Times Square a white-clad girl clutches her purse and skirt as an uninhibited sailor plants his lips squarely on hers.\"","caption":"Caption from the August 27, 1945, issue of LIFE. \"In the middle of New York's Times Square a white-clad girl clutches her purse and skirt as an uninhibited sailor plants his lips squarely on hers.\"","creditText":"Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/history/","name":"History"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4486812/wwii-kiss-photo-vj-day/","name":"The Story Behind the Iconic WWII Kissing Photo"}}]}] ```