Jill Greenberg

 “Torture”, 2005

BIOGRAPHY

Jill Greenberg was born in Montreal, Quebec in 1967. At the age of two, Greenberg and her family moved to Bloomfield Hills, Michigan; a suburb just outside Detroit. A few years later, she went on to attend the prestigious Cranbrook Elementary, where she was introduced to darkroom photography in the 5^th grade. In addition to her artistic studies at Cranbrook, Greenberg also participated in several art-related extracurricular activities. At 17, she received a scholarship to study photography at Parsons in Paris before continuing her studies at the Rhode Island School of Design in 1985.

After graduating with a BFA in photography, Greenberg headed to New York City to begin her career. There, she interned at Pace McGill, while taking other photography courses. After being rejected from the Whitney Program for fine art in 1992, Greenberg relegated to assignment work until 2001, when she began working on her “Monkey Portraits” series. The series featured several kinds of monkeys, with their images captured in a way that almost made them look human.

In 2006, she created the controversial photo series, “End of Times”. The collection of photographs was intended to illustrate Greenberg’s disdain for the Bush Administration, as well as, Christian Fundamentalism. The images showed toddlers with their faces contorted by rage, complete with tears and (in some cases) snot. The ethics of this series has caused high debate among the public. It was said the children were given candy and then had it forcefully taken away to drive them to tears.

In 2008, Greenberg made headlines again when she was commissioned to photograph one of the republican presidential candidates. She supplied the Republican Party with the desired photos, but posted several other undesirable images of the candidate on her website. She felt that it was her moral obligation to release the photos to the public and suffered a severe political backlash.

Jill Greenberg is a revolutionary photographer. Humanization of animals, social commentary, and political views are prevalent in her work. Though her photography is controversial, it is my belief that she has solidified her place in art history. 

END TIMES

 “Angry Country”, 2005

Composition

This photo is framed in such a way that the boy’s reaching hand becomes the emphasis of the photograph. Lighting for this image seems to combine diffuse and spot techniques. The perspective of this photograph seems to be someone standing off to side and watching the spectacle, while the child seems to be reaching off into the distance for something he can’t have. 

Concept

The concept of this photograph is to show the photographer's anger with the country, through the cation of the child. 

Method

The subject seems to be lit by back lighting and spotlighting and diffuse lighting.  To get the distressed effect, the children were given candy and had it forcefully taken away. The child is photographed slightly off to one side to create a distance from the goal. 

Motivation

The intent of this photograph is to illustrate the effect the current government and religious fundamentalist have on the people of this nation. 

OPINION

Jill Greenberg is one of the most amazing photographers I've ever seen. I'm impressed with her ability to give such human characteristics to the animals and the way in which she captures emotion. I'm completely baffled by how she creates the glossy effect on her images, but I would love to learn how. I love her commitment to using photography to show her views on the world. I'm also proud that she's from Michigan.