I admit it: Greenberg’s End Times series of photographs bothers me. Not just because the children in these photos are clearly emoting for real, but because the manner in which these emotions were elicited could be considered exploitative, similar to some of the accusations against Jacques Doillon with regards to his young actress in the film Ponette. I’m also a bit irritated by the fact that beautiful nudes of children are considered abusive by many people despite the feelings of the children participating in them, and yet these images, in which children were made to cry for the sake of Greenberg’s art, hardly stirs them. This is a clear-cut example of the skewed priorities of the West. I feel that Greenberg may frequently get a pass on this because of her feminist credentials.
And yet, in the end I cannot deny that her work is powerful, which is, after all, what the best art is about, and it’s certainly well-executed. There can be no doubt either that it falls in the ‘dark art’ category, and so here it is.
Jill Greenberg – End Times (1)
Jill Greenberg – End Times (2)
Jill Greenberg – End Times (3)
Jill Greenberg – End Times (4)
Jill Greenberg – End Times (5)
Jill Greenberg – End Times (6)
Jill Greenberg – End Times (7)
Jill Greenberg – End Times (8)
Jill Greenberg – End Times (9)
Jill Greenberg – End Times (10)
Jill Greenberg – End Times (11)
Jill Greenberg – End Times (12)
Jill Greenberg – End Times (13)
Jill Greenberg – End Times (14)
Jill Greenberg Studio (Official Site)
The child in #12 is Jill Greenberg’s daughter, Violet.
I knew the girl in #11 for a brief time before she was photographed for this series—she attended a summer day camp where I was a counselor for a group of kids her age. I heard about these photos from a fellow counselor who saw them and recognized her.
Ron, could you tell us a little about that controversy regarding “Ponette”?
The linked Wikipedia article says nothing about it.
I have it on a DVD, but I had not been aware of any controversy.
I think the issue is evident. Since Greenberg made images of distressed children and there would be a natural inclination to question how she captured those emotional states, the same would apply to Ponette whose mother died in the story and the 4-year-old actress—in her convincing performance—may have caused viewers to ask the same thing. -Ron
But children play all kinds of make-believe all the time, so is it not believable that a child actress knows that she is only acting?
The question is how skilled would a girl that young be able to emote and be self-possessed about it? -Ron
what did she do to catch these emotions?
did she poked them with a needle prior takin em.
lεl
most be some mean mean artist.
(:
It’s hard to say. But I’m sure many artists will attest to the fact that children this age commonly have spontaneous upsets. the difference here is how well they were captured. -Ron
My understanding is that the children were given candy, and then it was taken away from them.