Jill Greenberg and John McCain Controversial Atlantic Monthly Shoot
I think she went a little MAVERICK on us!!
Jill Greenberg is a LA commercial photographer who has made famous photos of famous people and a very famous set of photos of crying babies.
I am including a few screen grabs from Jill Greenberg site. Copyright Jill Greenberg!!
The crying baby series is a privately financed personal shoot by Jill Greenberg which was produced as a commentary on the re-election of President Bush. Click the thumbnail above to read her statement about the work. Many of us have seen these images, but you may not know what was the message or the intent of the series. People in the industry however would certainly know her position politically as they would research this photographer for an assignment such as a Portrait for the cover of the Atlantic Monthly.
So here is the cover shot that the Atlantic Monthly chose from the shoot but at the end of the 15 minute session Jill Greenberg turned the main light off and shot some with the light on the floor producing a goolish style of lighting and clearly an unflattering view of John McCain.
She made these to stir up things a little…
“Good. I want to stir stuff up, but not to the point where I get audited if he becomes president.” Jill Greeenberg
She didn’t stop there, she completed several of these images with retouching and captions that are pretty rough.
This is the most mild of the set that is now been removed from her site but are available if you have the stomach for it. Mark Tucker a great editorial and commercial Photographer has posted a set of forteen questions about the controversy Here.
3. If Greenberg was truly being an “artist”, why didn’t she submit ONLY the second setup, which was the bottom-lit frame, as opposed to her formula-lighting commercial solution? Wouldn’t a true artist submit only their “best statement”? Mark Tucker
Photo District News posted these comments about the situation:
How Jill Greenberg Really Feels About John McCain
I think this situation is certainly of some interest to the student of photography. What are our rights and responsibilities as photographers and artists? I am sure that it is a complicated issue with the possibility of complicity of the Atlantic Monthly.
I am including a youtube of a shoot with Jill where you see her shooting tethered with the Hasselblad digital camera. One might imagine that the the McCain shoot was also shot tethered so anyone present could have seen the results on the computer as she was shooting.
This is a good behind the scene video showing her kickers and use of a ring light for fill which must be part of her signature look.
Photographic Education - JerryCentral 