JENNIFER GREENBURG
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Revising History
She made sure to tell me to keep smiling. 2018
The microphone was reserved for gentlemen, 2020
Corporeal love no longer did the trick, 2022
Who'd ever thought I'd end up in a cul-du-sac? 2022
Out of all all my husbands, he’s the first one to have insulted me in public. 2022
What I'd done was all over town. 2022
The only time I could put my head down was on the way up. 2022
I was not the thinnest, nor the prettiest, but I was the winner! 2015
I have never been good at handling unwarranted attention, 2015
It was finally my day! 2015
I met the man of my future modeling in the Car of Tomorrow, 2018
The insurance agent told me to have my husband or my father call him. 2017
Every photographer provided an opportunity. 2018
The director knocked twice, 2017
I did not have a happy Valentine. 2018
They hired a few of us for the debut of egalitarian architecture in Chicago, 2017
A girl as pretty as you doesn't need any words at all, 2018
I was a vendor of drink but not love, 2018
Two years later, I was drunk enough to sing at the St. Pat's Party. How embarrassing! 2014
When he was a baby, 2011
Something funny happened in the kitchen, 2011
The League Night I broke 200! 2012
I have always preferred my own birthday, 2015
When they lifted me on to the piano, I had no choice but to oblige, 2016
Napping with Floyd, 2011
My dreams came true the day I did hair for a fashion show, 2013
archival ink jet print, octad, 96x40
My funeral, 2012
They told me to build a Noble Savage, 2021
I didn't want her to feel left out, so I made her outfit for the Christmas Recital. 2022
Revising History is made by replacing the entire central figure in vernacular photographs with images of myself. I intend the work to engage the audience in a conversation about how historical depictions of women, rife with aesthetically pleasing glamour, are used to help us idealize the American past. Using performative techniques and stagecraft, I transform into a protagonist– navigating her societal expectations sardonically– in order to draw a sharp parallel with the culture of discrimination women still experience today.

The captivating aesthetic present in post-war American photography encourages us to believe that it was a time of civility when it was actually a time of discrimination and gender inequality. A woman’s future, both personally and professionally, was usually determined by her beauty and physical presentation, rather than her skills or qualifications. Yet, the visuals of the post-war era act as a mask–covering up and glossing over a past that is more convenient to forget using aesthetic appeal. I utilize those visuals to draw my audience into a conversation about the narrative we have devised regarding the American past.

Using an elaborate performative process, I become the subject of the photograph. I replace the original woman in the image with an image of my entire body. The work relies on costuming, physical improvisation, and highly detailed studio photography work, rather than on digital manipulation. I select period-correct vintage attire from my clothing archive for each image. I then transmogrify my visual appearance using hair and makeup techniques learned from vintage beauty manuals. I become a characterization of the person who was present the moment the image was captured.  My end result appears as a record of time and place yet crafts its own reality, myth, and falsehood, not unlike a traditionally made photograph. 

By presenting photographs that are transmuted from their original intention, I foster a conversation about how historical depictions of women are used to help us idealize our past. I intend the series to engage the audience in a conversation about the way we interpret the media, record personal memories, and establish a collective history.



  • Home
  • Constructed Portraits
  • Revising History
  • The Rockabillies
  • Substitute World
  • Bio & CV
  • Colored Stories
  • Other Works
  • Links & Gallery Representation
  • Student Work
  • New Page