Lauren Greenfield

Part of Greenfield's Thin series, in which she documented several women who were receiving treatment at Renfrew Center in south Florida. The photos document the ups and downs as the women go through treatment, as well as follow-ups after they're discharged.

Part of Greenfield's Teen Lipo series, in which she documented Brook Bates before and after her liposuction surgery. Brook, who had the surgery when she was twelve, is believe to be the youngest to have the procedure in the US. Before having the surgery, Brook was pre-diabetic and had tried everything else in order to lose the weight.

Part of Greenfield's Thin series, in which she documented several women who were receiving treatment at Renfrew Center in south Florida. The photos document the ups and downs as the women go through treatment, as well as follow-ups after they're discharged.

Part of Greenfield's Thin series, in which she documented several women who were receiving treatment at Renfrew Center in south Florida. The photos document the ups and downs as the women go through treatment, as well as follow-ups after they're discharged.

Part of Greenfield's Girl Culture series, in which she documented the different things girls deal with today.

Definition: DOCUMENTARY:
Pulling attention to a subject or a person, telling a story without flinching, and without editing the story to tell it in a "prettier" way. Telling it like it is.


Reflection:
I love Greenfield's work: one of the things that I like about documentaries (both photography and movies) is the fact that they aren't meant to sugarcoat life, which is how I try to live and photograph (when depicting something that isn't exactly pleasant, I don't like to try to pretty it up), and her work is a wonderful example of that approach.

I don't know if I would do that kind of photography: it fits with my personality, and how I see the world and live life, but at this point I'm more interested in pushing the creativity to the limit--and then pushing it even further (e.g., cranking up the colours, clarity, etc., in Camera RAW).

Proposal:
What I would do and why
I would photograph other artists--let's say, members of an orchestra (maybe the Passamaquoddy Bay Symphony, or the Bangor Symphony). I would photograph the members during rehearsals, hanging out, doing other stuff besides playing their instruments--basically, orchestra life (and I'd try not to show too much favouritism towards the violin section heehee). Documentaries have been made about orchestras, dance companies, etc., before, but each one is different, whether it's the orchestra/company, or the approach used in the documentary.