Photographer Jill Greenberg.. Monkeys, and Children, and Now Bears, Oh My!
We've written about photographer Jill Greenberg aka..."The Manipulator" before.. And while I'm sure not sure if her photography will ever be considered "high art".. They are always fun to look at. (photo #1, Jill Greenberg, "Headache," 2005)
Thanks to the Cool Hunting blog... There's this new video of Jill Greenberg at work...it's worth checking out.
The Video, covers the ClampArt Show of Monkeys, some of the crying children "End Times", and now some of her new work of Bears in Canada.
FYI.. Her book Monkey Portraits has been a huge success.. I hear it's already sold out and on it's second printing!
Great video. I've seen her work but have never met Jill...so nice to see that one's hunches are correct. There's so much talk about the "deeper meaning" of her work, how (somehow) the crying children were a comment on Bush's presidency and the War in Iraq, etc, etc.
How nice to see confirmed that she is just making cool-looking photos--no need to choke it full of deeper meaning or high art pretensions. This is modern art in the modern sense, for people who want their art in useful doses. For people who have a collection of 20,000 songs on their iPod.
Art is like popcorn at the movies where the movie is your life!
Some people see a lot of photos and have a jaded view of what is new and different, what they claim is original and worthy. Others have wisely decided on a path of moderation in their consumption of art photographs--and thank God they made that choice. They get to experience the "shock of the new," the giddy discovery of the hot thing of the month, time and time again. Their lives are full of joy and wonder, not despair and defeatist thinking.
Jill's photo's are *fun*, damn-it. They'd look great on my wall--just imagine the next party! It's so cool to be on the culture's cutting edge like this.
I wonder if Jill's next series will be photographs of sheep?
--Darin
Posted by: Darin Boville | February 08, 2007 at 02:40 AM
Jill Greenberg herself was the one who made the correlation between her crying children and the war and Bush etc, etc.
http://www.artnet.com/event/100896/jill-greenberg-end-times.html
Kind of hits you over the head with it huh? Can you imagine thinking that "Faith?" is a good title?
Posted by: horton | February 08, 2007 at 02:57 PM
I am sorry, but Jill Greenberg just can't talk like a "fine art" photographer, wait, she is not. Her work are so flat and skin-deep, the lighting is ugly. I can tell her work sure would sell well (to the tasteless collectors), because it is again flat, decorative and meaningless, it fits right in the Paul Kopeikin Gallery, but I have much higher expectation for ClampArt. Plus, I can not stand photographer force other people/animals pose photo for money, eewww.... it is like what pimps do. Those poor poor bears, they should have fun, sleep and have some steak, not stand on her silly platform and been tortured, I hope next time they bite her head off.
Posted by: cocoguy | February 10, 2007 at 04:39 AM
Ahhhhh Horton. I hate people like you. Waste of type. All you do is wine about shit you can accomplish or even achieve. Lets see you spit out these "ugly lighting and meaningless" photos. YOU CANT. The lighting is far from ugly, and it takes more then practice for that effect. Skill is something Jill has. You dont. Your wine and probally dont know how to use your camera.
Posted by: Brennan Harvey | April 11, 2007 at 01:11 PM
What a very intelligent and, mind you, riveting take on something that is nothing more than a talented women exploring new avenues in an artistic medium of photography - a very talented person, at that (Horton). Not that I'm the type of person who needs to inflate and defend my own ego, by posting ridiculous and unwarranted comments about a photographer who is admittably better than me (Horton), but, hey, to each their own. But, if I were that type of person, I would probably make excuses for not being as successful as Greenberg by using words such as "flat, decorative and meaningless". You see, my sad friend, all artists have those that critic their artistic ideas; however, it is the crux of the shallow to deconstruct an artists' attempt to inspire new ideas - new ideas that make art a CREATIVE endeavor vs. a scientific pursuit.
Posted by: Bradley | May 14, 2007 at 12:05 AM