Jill Greenberg

 "Glass Ceiling" http://www.manipulator.com/Fine-art/photos/glass-ceiling#/

Though born in Montreal, Canada in 1967, Jill Greenberg grew up in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. Outside of her traditional education, Greenberg also attended Kingswood, Birmingham Bloomfield Art Association, and the Center for Creative Studies in Detroit. After high school, she continued her arts education by taking classes at Rhode Island School of Design and Brown University.


Greeberg's focus appears to be portraiture (of both animals and people) and commercial photography. As her website indicates, Greenberg has adopted the title "Manipulator" to describe they way she approaches her work. Her images are manipulated both manually and digitally, and she enjoys staging and creating characters for her photographs. As such, her images have a idealized feel to them, with the subjects looking so perfect that they feel unreal.


My favorite set of photos on her website is the "Glass Ceiling." The photo above is one from that set. The photos are all taken from underwater, looking up at the subject. The set is actually outtakes from a commissioned photo shoot if the 2008 US Olympic Synchronized Skating team. Two setups from the shoot used high heels. As Greenberg writes; 


"They attempt to perform and pose but the water knocks them into awkward positions. They wear high heels to be "sexy" in this performance, yet this is absurd, it hinders their movement and amplifies their lack of control. They adjust their swimsuits, shoes; gasp for air, and are pushed by the relentless force of the water, a metaphor for their world."


It is a metaphor for how women struggle to make themselves into how society wants them to be, no matter how unnatural and destructive these expectations may be.  


Jill Greenberg: http://www.manipulator.com/