Jill Greenberg (born July 1967) is an American photographer and artist

Jill Greenberg (born July 1967) is an American photographer and artist . She is known for her portraits, and fine art work.

Greenberg was born in Montreal, Quebec, and grew up in a suburb of Detroit. She graduated with honors in 1989 from the Rhode Island School of Design with a BFA in Photography and moved to New York City to pursue a career in photography. Greenberg moved to Los Angeles in 2000 where she met her husband Robert.

In 2007 Greenberg was selected by French Photo Magazine for their 40th anniversary issue to represent one of the 40 most important photographers. She has done commercial work for corporations such as Philip Morris, Microsoft,Polaroid, Dreamworks, Sony Pictures, Paramount Pictures, MGM, Disney, Fox, Coca Cola, Pepsi, Smirnoff, MTV, Warner Bros., Sony Music, and Atlantic Records. Her photos have appeared on the covers of Time, Newsweek, Wired, Fast Company, Entertainment Weekly and numerous other publications. Celebrities and CEOs who have used her head shots and portraits include Clint Eastwood, Glenn Close, Steven Spielberg, James Cameron, Jeff Bezos, and Richard Jenkins.

Her artwork has been featured in Harper's, The New Yorker, The New Republic and several other publications. Her monkey series has been purchased by art collectors worldwide. She is shown at ClampArt in New York, and Fahey/Klein in Los Angeles and her artwork has been exhibited in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Paris, France, Adelaide, Australia as well as in San Francisco, Chicago, and various other cities.

Greenberg is credited by some within the commercial photography industry as having produced several unique styles that have since been emulated by other photographers. "Like LaChapelle and Avedon, Jill has pioneered a unique style of photography, and her impact can been throughout the entertainment industry," the creative director of the Los Angeles agency BGP told Brief Magazine, with the publication itself characterizing her work as employing "distinctive ethereal backlighting." A president of NBC Entertainment Marketing who has employed Greenberg on a number of occasions due to what he terms her "distinct and innovative aesthetic" observed that "many other photographers follow her lead." Greenberg herself has acknowledged having made particular use of digital post production, adapting the nickname "The Manipulator" early in her career due in part to her relatively early adaption of Photoshop, a product she's used since its release in 1990. Nonetheless, she told an interviewer in 2011 that some of what her fans believe to be post production is instead the result of close attention to lighting, merely supplemented with minor "flourishes" afterwards.

Greenberg's End Times, a series of photographs featuring toddlers, was the subject of controversy in 2006. The work featured stylized hyper real closeups of children's faces contorted by various emotional distresses. The pieces were titled to reflect Greenberg's frustration with both the Bush administration and Christian Fundamentalism in the United States. The method for getting the children to cry, in some cases, achieved by offering the children candy, then taking it away, spurred allegations of unethical conduct and provoked the submission of numerous complaints to the art gallery that hosted a public showing of Greenberg's work.

In August 2008, Greenberg was hired by The Atlantic to photograph John McCain for the magazine's October 2008 cover. Once the magazine hit the newsstands, Greenberg admitted to a photo industry magazine to shooting additional images, to depict McCain in a sinister light, so that she could create her own political art. Greenberg also posted to her website altered versions of photographs.

Greenberg's work and career has focused intermittently on feminist issues, starting with her senior thesis at RISD, "The Female Object," the premise of which concerned “The disciplinary project of femininity” and what Greenberg sees as the predetermined failure of all women who attempt to “succeed” at it. Greenberg's official bio cites the backlash resulting from the McCain/Atlantic incident as having prompted her to return to "the question of what is tolerated by women in our culture." Her more recent Glass Ceiling series stems from a commercial shoot in which Greenberg was asked to photograph members of the U.S. Olympic Synchronized Swim Team swimming in high heels, an element that heightens sexuality while also hampering ability. According to a press release/bio released ahead of an exhibition and talk, "The result is a sadly relevant series of shots depicting women struggling to keep head above water in a context defined by the constraints pressed upon them by others."

http://www.manipulator.com/