How far does Jill Greenberg go to get a shot?

Here is an editorial about the controversy re: Jill Greenberg’s series, “End Times”, 2006 that still is talked about long after its creation. It pains me to even have to post one of these images, but I need to give context and a point of reference to this post.

I can only bear to post one of these and I’m hard-pressed to even do that. You can see more of the images here: Jill Greenberg’s series entitled, “End Times” from 2006

First off, a disclaimer: Jill Greenberg is an incredible photographer … her style is unique and unmistakeable. I admire much of her work. Her bear series is amazing and I love many of her celebrity portraits … her retouching and digital manipulation is some of the best I’ve seen. I would go so far as to say it is awe-inspiring. So, I am a fan. Just want to make that clear.

But, about this particular series, this is an edited comment as posted on Facebook:

“…. these images are disturbing. If you didn’t know that candy being taken away was the prompt and gimmick used to get these kids so distressed, you’d think they just suffered a devastating loss. I don’t like set-up shots that seem to indicate that the photographer was being cruel solely to get shots that would bother us or provide some sort of shock value or create some controversy. Unlike a photojournalist’s shot that may be difficult to look at because of the horror of the reality (i.e., war, famine, etc), this is something I have trouble looking at because it is staged.

“The apparent idea: Let’s upset some very little kids and make them cry and then, let’s make them cry for a good 30 minutes … until we get our shot. A motivator – we need a motivator – give these innocent little children who don’t know any better some candy and then yank it away from them … then give it back and yank it away again until we get the kids crying and distraught. If they reach out for their parents, tell the parents to leave the room so the kids get to feel abandoned while in a state of utter, emotional turmoil and distress.”

I posted her monkey series here on this blog … they seem to be emoting, too! Was there a motivator?

Arne Svenson’s, About Face series from 2011 is a collection of faces with various expressions. Was a method used to bring out these expressions? Yes. Here is a statement from Svenson’s site about the series, “From one perspective the viewer sees only a neutral portrait of the student, while from the other angle one views an open spread, which reveals an expressive image of the student and an accompanying emotional motivator. Motivators range from an image of kittens at play to a fistfight.”

Is there any difference then between this and what Greenberg did? What do you think?

I welcome and encourage your comments! All points of view welcome.