We think that this photo is special: “Sailor at Times Square” c.1937. I guess that our motivation for this photo was “V-J Day in Times Square” a/k/a “The Kiss” taken by Alfred Eisenstaedt. Something special about Times Square, the center of the world. The movie playing two blocks down is “This Is The Life”.
I would argue that the majority of Americans would not recognize the lead photo is this blog, “Manzanar“. If you were Japanese-American, on the other hand, I think that you would not have this recognition problem. This is the infamous War Relocation Camp in Owens Valley, California where thousands of Japanese-American citizens were forcibly housed during the war years 1942-1945. It remains a dark stain on our human rights record. Goodbye to Manzanar!
I believe that most of us are familiar with the statue memorializing the flag raising atop Mt.Suribachi on Iwo Jima that stands in Washington D. C. It has been photographed countless times, and we have several images of it on our website. What we show in this blog is the original monument to the flag raising atop Mt. Suribachi as it appeared in 1945 while still under construction. I understand that the completed monument has been moved off Suribachi and is now located near the landing beaches. It was also explained to me that there was a cemetery for our fallen soldiers on Suribachi in 1945 which has also been relocated near the monument where it now stands. Photos of the completed monument can be seen on the internet, but none at the original location as we present here. It is like looking at Mt. Rushmore while only partially completed, and by the way we have that too on DPI. So honor the 5th Marines and Joe Rosenthal for capturing what Henri Cartier-Bresson called the “decisive moment”.
Here is a photo, “Enoshima Island, Japan (1955)“, that I find to be very special although I cannot really explain why. Perhaps having been in Asia a long time ago has something to do with it. Maybe it is related to culture shock. I remember that it took some time for me to adapt to my new surroundings. Likewise, upon my return to the U.S. it also took some time though not as long. At any rate this is a photo that I do not tire of viewing. Enoshima Island is located just off the coast of Yokohama.