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I’ve held my tongue since the Jill Greenberg discussion began about a week ago. Others have a great deal more to say about her photographs of Republican presidential candidate John McCain while shooting for the Atlantic Magazine and their impact on photography and the campaign. Some partisan, some angry and some gleeful, photographers and editors are eager to argue her rights as an artist and obligation as a journalist.

Rarely do I read any discussion of her talent.

Greenberg’s earlier notoriety came from a series of photos of crying children and a second set of posed animals.

Greenberg forced children to cry by taking away candy she’d previously given them. The hugely popular images received much criticism. Not because she advertised them as commentary against President George Bush and the war in Iraq. The greatest complaint came from child advocates who accused her of abusing the children for the sake of art. Not much came of the criticism but it gave her much publicity.

She also was noticed with a series of monkey and ape photos using the same highly stylized lighting and retouching techniques she’d employed shooting the disappointed and angry children.

A look through her portfolio at manipulator.com shows the five light, rim-lit and ring light fill setup as her primary lighting technique. She’s well accomplished using this method and I’m convinced is worthy of the notoriety and business when it is used properly. The monkey and ape images are certainly striking.

However, remove the rim lights, turn off the ring light, and she’s not very good. Her work is pedestrian at best.

I tried to place myself in the same position as Greenberg, standing before a subject whose policy, lifestyle, methods, and history I hated. I imagined forgetting my obligation as a journalist and wished just to harm the subject through my talent.

Her attempt at lighting McCain from below to create a sinister look is a failure. It’s poorly done. It looks more like a mistake during the lighting setup than a measured attempt at ridicule. If it was a mistake frame, a misfire during the lighting setup, she’s lying about how she duped his handlers to get the image. If she purposely lit it that way, she isn’t a very good photographer.

My kids are better at creating sinister looks with flashlights under their chins than Jill Greenberg with her studio strobes. And, what’s with McCain’s shadow on the wall. What does that signify?

Jill, be creative in a new way. Don’t use failure to advance your career.