Jill Greenberg vs. John McCain

Photographer Jill Greenberg is no stranger to controversy. After all, she’s literally taken candy from babies in order to get her shot in the past. So the latest uproar surrounding her photos of John McCain for The Atlantic magazine’s October cover doesn’t come as much of a surprise, especially in light of her controversial anti-George Bush photographs. The photos of McCain for the magazine’s cover were lit from below with a harsh (and very unflattering) strobe light. What is surprising is the pointedly unprofessional manner that she conducted the photo shoot (reportedly boasting afterwards about tricking McCain into posing for in an unbecoming manner). The photos used by the magazine, likely wouldn’t have caused much backlash; it’s the Photoshopped versions of the outtakes that she posted on her personal site that has the magazine apologizing to the McCain camp.

The mess doesn’t bode well for Greenberg or The Atlantic, but does the magazine really have a case against the photographer after the fact? They claim that they don’t vet photographers for their political agenda (which normally would have nothing to do with their performance). Still, they printed one of Greenberg’s photos on their cover (one that although a far cry from the doctored images, still isn’t that flattering) and only after the uproar about the images on her personal site are they rumored to be considering both not paying Greenberg as well as a lawsuit against her. Click here for the editors’ note from The Atlantic about the cover.
(image via. Gawker.com)
—Kathleen Davis
Assistant Editor