This web experiment - intended to be viewed on a laptop or desktop screen - is an interpretation of the iconic Life Magazine V-J day photograph. It makes
extensive use of CSS3 and web technology to create a feeling of 3d space using parallax, motion, and more. The original photographic imagery has been adapted into
layers, edited, and slightly modified.
Move your mouse about the screen to see the parallax effect and take in some of the details - both existing and added
(e.g., neon, animations, etc.)
Note that while viewing this on a mobile device might work, the viewer is urged to connect from a laptop or desktop (for which it was designed and tested). Also, Firefox appears to not want to animate one of the layers.. so use Chrome, Edge, or Safari maybe?..
Photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt's iconic Life magazine photograph was taken in Times Square on August 14, 1945 during the "V-J" (victory over Japan) Day Parade
and has since taken on a life of its own as a cultural marker. A returning warrior, a jubilated nation, ecstatic parade-goers, and victory, are all part of
the zeitgeist of the moment. On the darker side, riots marred a similar parade in San Francisco that same week, and some even question
whether the kissee even wanted this kiss.
Despite the fact that several nearby photographers shot this same scene from different angles at about the same time, there remains uncertainty about
the definitive identities of the kissers themselves.
In the ensuing years, Eisenstaedt's imagery has been appropriated in:
sculpture,
new media,
painting,
film,
tatoo art, and
more.
All site design, coding and implementation by
Ben Falchuk, a creative coder who lives at the intersection of technology and design. Resources used in this project include:
