Steven Barrie-Anthony reports in the L.A. Times about Jill Greenberg's controversed photo technique, designed to supposedly capture toddlers' reactions to the end of the world:
Steal a toddler's lollipop and he's bound to start bawling, was Greenberg's thinking. So that's just what she did to elicit tears from the 27 or so 2- and 3-year-olds featured in her latest exhibition, "End Times," recently at the Paul Kopeikin Gallery in L.A. The children's cherubic faces, illuminated against a blue-white studio backdrop, suggest abject betrayal far beyond the loss of a Tootsie Pop; sometimes tears spill onto naked shoulders and bellies. [photo gallery]
The work depicts how children would feel if they knew the state of the world they're set to inherit, explained Greenberg. "Our government is so corrupt, with all the cronyism and corporate lobbyists," she said. "I just feel that our world is being ruined. And the environment — when I was pregnant, I kept thinking that I'd love to have a tuna fish sandwich, but I couldn't because we've ruined our oceans."
"End Times" debuted in April, and soon after an Internet brouhaha broke out that has continued to this day. [more]
I'll have to side with those questioning Greenberg's
modus operandi. For unhappy kids, just travel the world's darkest corners, or simply visit a dysfunctional family -- plenty of photo ops there. Better still: walk the talk, and go places where they already know what the "End Times" mean. No need to add tears with fake, circus tricks. That's just
militantisme de salon -- and zero ethics.
inverted photo Jill Greenberg
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