Oh my god, these photographs are heartbreaking. In her political series “End Times,” Jill Greenberg seeks to portray children’s faces in a future, disastrous ‘present day.’ I love the photos’ emotion and richness, but it’s upsetting to think about the babies being made to cry. In fact, there was big controversy surrounding the exhibition last summer–people questioned Greenberg’s ethics and even accused her of child abuse.

But her gallery quickly explained that the photographs were digitally manipulated (meaning, the babies never actually cried like that) and released a VERY interesting essay Regarding What is Real in Photography. They say that perhaps Greenberg got such a strong response because she is TOO good at what she does; and that people instinctually believe everything they see in a photograph, whereas they’re able to see film, paintings and other media as imaginative constructs. I’d recommend reading the thoughtful essay if you have a second. And, with that, my readers, thank you for reading family week. I hope you enjoyed it! Now onto the next….