In 2006, New York-based photographer Jill Greenberg sparked controversy with her series, ‘End Times’. It features portraits of little children throwing tantrums, shedding tears, giving hissy fits, and most of the time, all of the above. The series was meant to reflect her anger with the Bush administration.
‘The most dangerous fundamentalists aren’t just waging war in Iraq; they’re attacking evolution, blocking medical research and ignoring the environment’, she said. ‘It’s as if they believe the apocalyptic End Time is near, therefore protecting the earth and future of our children is futile. As a parent I have to reckon with the knowledge that our children will suffer for the mistakes our government is making. Their pain is a precursor of what is to come’.
Instead, she received plenty of hate mail, bearing outcries of child abuse, accusing her of cruel methods to make the kids cry with so much emotion. However, she assures her critics that the children were not harmed and the shoot was done with the permission and help of the mothers.
‘The moms would hand them a lollipop in some cases, or they would offer them their cellphone—and then just sort of ask for it back. And basically the child was throwing a tantrum to try to get this candy or toy back, sort of putting on a show in a way’, Greenberg tells Slate.
With her stylistic lighting and dramatic post-production effects, the intense images of crying children definitely got her message across – even getting her into trouble with many. But she says she doesn’t regret doing the series, and has even come out with a book on it.