A:LIST A Project of the Hyde Park Art Center

Jennifer Greenburg

Artist Information

Born: 1977, Chicago, IL
Currently Resides: Chicago, IL

Contact Information:
jjgreenburg (at) earthlink (dot) net

Medium(s) Worked in:
Photography

Artist CV:
Download file

Available for Commission: Yes

HPAC Exhibitions

2006, Jennifer Greenburg: Recalling Americana

Artist Statement

It is my strong belief that the image created by the camera is far from a record of what has actually taken place, but rather is an impression. My work questions photography’s inherent ability to document. My subjects are posed, and fully aware that they are being photographed, yet the ensembles and environments are found and accepted as is. Any editing or shaping is done silently from behind the camera.

What my subjects reveal is always veiled; it is that veiling which creates an interesting photographic dialogue in which the work can exist.

I do not believe that anyone can resist changing their mannerisms or body language in the presence of a camera, and my photographs acknowledge the relationship between photographer and subject. I recognize that I can only capture that which I am allowed to capture. I have the ability to impose my own position on the image, and I do. I believe that the notion of an authentic reaction or even the privilege of it cannot exist. What my subjects reveal is always veiled; it is that veiling which creates an interesting photographic dialogue in which the work can exist.

“Recalling Americana,” is work from the past six years which examines a unique global subculture and my relationship/place within it. The individuals chosen are part of the Rockabilly scene which has co-opted the looks and values of mid-twentieth century America. The group appears almost blissfully ignorant of both the realities of the time period so adored and of current realities. Few, if any members of the Rockabilly culture would, in actuality, want to live in the unsettled post-war era; however, the imagery and ideals have been taken along with an almost wistful interpretation of the time, and made into something new. In the process, it has become a cartoon-ish hyper-hybrid of texts and images sometimes taken out of context from the reality of a time period that saw race riots, great hardship, and little hope for middle-class advancement.

“Recalling Americana,” is work from the past six years which examines a unique global subculture and my relationship/place within it. The individuals chosen are part of the Rockabilly scene which has co-opted the looks and values of mid-twentieth century America.

The values held by this group are like those held by the middle class of the late 1940’s and 1950’s. Rockabilly’s core consists of women who work as secretaries or in retail, men who work blue collar jobs, and couples who have moved to the suburbs to have children. The young single women and men usually have the primary goal of settling down to monogamous family life. They listen to old music, they fill their dwellings with objects from the past; they coif their hair according to pictures in beauty manuals printed more than fifty years ago. The clothing is authentic or reproduced to period specifications; even the tattooing is based on themes and designs from early years of the form’s American popularity.

The Rockabillies also place importance on period ephemera from the middle class of the mid twentieth century. Vintage cars, vintage homes, clothes and jewelry all serve as passports into this world. Education is rarely a topic of conversation, and generally a much larger importance is placed on lifestyle than upon careers. With the exception of the Internet — which is used both to glue those involved together and as a common place to meet worldwide -there is an almost disdain placed on anything new. The sub-culture is almost exclusively Caucasian with small Asian and Hispanic pockets and almost no blacks. Social mores tend toward the conservative.

The Rockabillies are an anomaly compared to other subcultures in that they base themselves on another generation as opposed to music, ethnicity, or station. This group is not interested in historical preservation from the point of reenactment. Yet the group rarely strays from established archetypes. In social settings, individuals keep to strict guidelines regarding dress and behavior.

This seduction caused me to immerse myself among this group of people as both a participant and as a voyeur over the past five years.

I am uncertain why or how this phenomenon is taking place. My initial discovery of this population was through my lifelong love of vintage clothing and music. It was with great surprise that my interest uncovered an entire culture of people who love the things I love, yet who also live their lives in such contrast to my own contemporary realities. There is something very attractive about the way this subculture has distilled life into very simple terms. It is hard not to be seduced by the idea that you can ignore harsh realities of modernity in lieu of the dark romantic innocence of the middle 20th century. This seduction caused me to immerse myself among this group of people as both a participant and as a voyeur over the past five years. The images are records of individuals that I am involved with and of my ambivalent relationship to them and to the implications of this subculture.

Artist Bio

Press & Publications

Additional Information

Upcoming publication: Contact Sheet, New York, Light Work, 2006