Monthly Archives: April 2012

Horse

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In a subtle turn away from the more direct portraiture of her monkey and bear portraits, Jill Greenberg presents here a selection of photographs of horses. While the artist’s previous images of monkeys and bears proved extremely popular, she regards horses as her primal subject. As a young girl, Greenberg was preoccupied with horses for a time – – she drew them, painted, them, sculpted them, collected models, read about them, and got to ride them, too. Here she returns to her childhood interest, but with the more mature and knowing eye of an adult. The photographs reflect the majesty and power of these beasts, in addition to their undeniable sexuality.

Glass Ceiling

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Departing from her daring and experimental portraiture, Jill Greenberg returns to her interest in feminist art with “Glass Ceiling,” a series in which she depicts female athletes and dancers underwater engaged in a variety of ambiguous and dynamic movements. The women wear colorful bathing suits and high heels in complimentary hues.

Inspired by an editorial assignment that involved Olympic athletes in stilettos, Greenberg was struck by the absurdity of the styling. The shoes, meant to heighten sexuality, restrict movement and impose a lack of control. Greenberg then formulated her own photographs, which became “Glass Ceiling.” The tension of the models surfacing for gasps of air while wrestling with the weight of the water acts as a metaphor for the role women must play in the outside world.

A number of the images in the series were shot with the assistance of the Aqualillies.

Ursine

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Since the great success of her monkey portraits, artist Jill Greenberg has been asked to photograph a variety of animals. However, inspired by her personal interest, she chose to travel to Calgary and Vancouver, where she constructed outdoor studios in order to photograph giant bears.

As with the monkey portraits, Greenberg manages to capture a variety of personalities, expressions, and emotions in her ursine friends. The bears add to the artist’s amazing portfolio of impressively original portraiture.

End Times

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Jill Greenberg writes: “Nothing is more pure than the anguish of a child. Pictures of children crying capture raw emotion: sputtering rage and profound loss.” And, as a mother of two kids, Greenberg knows firsthand how quickly and unexpectedly storms of grief can sweep across the face of a toddler.

The first child that Greenberg photographed suddenly became hysterically upset. It reminded her of the helplessness and anger she felt about the current political situation. It made Greenberg think of her outrage at the false reasons for the United States going to war with Iraq and the scandalous way in which the conflict was sold to the American people. She titled the image “Four More Years.”