Victor Jorgensen (July 8, 1913 – June 14, 1994) was a former Navyphoto journalist who probably is most notable for taking an instantly iconic photograph of an impromptu scene in Manhattan on August 14, 1945, but from a different angle and in a less dramatic exposure than that of a photograph taken by Alfred Eisenstaedt. Both photographs were of the same V-J Day embrace of a woman in a white dress by a sailor. Eisenstaedt's better known photograph, V-J Day in Times Square, was published in Life.
Quick Facts Born, Died ...
Victor Jorgensen
Lt. Victor Jorgensen relaxing in his quarters aboard the USS Lexington, ca. 1943
Jorgensen's Navy photograph of the V J Day kiss in Times SquareFuture president Gerald Ford is the jumper on the left of this 1943 photograph by JorgensenCDR Edward Steichen photographed above the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Lexington by Jorgensen, November 1943.
After college, he joined the staff of The Oregonian, working his way up from copy boy to night city editor. During his time at the newspaper, he became interested in photography and by the advent of World War II he was becoming a respected photographer.[3]
While aboard the USS Monterey, he captured Navy pilots in the forward elevator well of the ship playing basketball during June 1944. One of the subjects, the jumper of the left, is Gerald Ford, who later became the president of the United States upon the resignation of Richard Nixon.[5][6]
On V J Day, 1945, both Jorgensen and Eisenstaedt captured the image of a U.S. sailor grabbing a nurse for an impromptu kiss in the midst of Times Square celebrations. In a 2010 article, The New York Times described it as "a defining image of the American century, one that expressed the joy of a nation at its moment of greatest triumph."[7]
After he left the Navy, Jorgensen settled in Maryland. He took over Chesapeake Skipper magazine, renaming it The Skipper and boosted its subscriptions from 1,500 to 50,000 by 1968. He and his wife moved to Portland at that time and started a boaters' consumer report newsletter. Jorgensen died of cancer in 1994 and was survived by his wife; two daughters; and two sisters.[2]
Faces of War: The Untold Story of Edward Steichen's WWII Photographers, pg. 48, Mark D. Faram, Berkeley Caliber, New York, New York, 2009, ISBN978-0-425-22140-2
"World War II Photographs". Military Units. 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-09-18. Retrieved 2007-09-09. WW2042 "Activities aboard USS MONTEREY. Navy pilots in the forward elevator well playing basketball." Jumper at left identified as Gerald R. Ford. Attributed to Lt. Victor Jorgensen, circa June/July 1944.
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Victor_Jorgensen, and is written by contributors.
Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.