Gabe Greenberg Class of 1998
Making Fine Art Finer The behind-the-scenes work of a fine-art printer
V CON CORD AC A DEM Y M AG A ZINE SPRING 2015
isitors to a photography exhibition might well imagine that the artistic judgment involved in the project begins and ends with the photographer taking the picture. But Gabe Greenberg ’98 knows there’s much more to it than that. Through his studio, Greenberg Editions, he works with photographers and other artists to create fine-quality prints of their work for museum exhibitions, galleries, professional portfolios, and books. He recently helped mount a show for photographer Laurie Simmons at the Jewish Museum in New York. How We See is on exhibit through Aug. 9. “Her work is very contextual,” Greenberg says. “With that show, it was really about establishing the style. I’ve been working with her for over a year and was able to come up with some ideas that she loved. Once we figured out how we wanted to do the first portrait, 20
the rest fell into place. These are portraits that are printed at about 5 by 6 feet, so even larger than life-size. When you walk into the exhibit space, I want them to be as striking as possible.” Ultimately, Greenberg says, the challenge comes down to making a twodimensional picture appear three-dimensional. “When you view an object or person or landscape, it’s three-dimensional,” he says. “When you shoot it with a camera and print it, you reduce it to two dimensions. My work is to add three-dimensionality back to the image. That might mean pumping up a background color, softening one image, making another one pop out. That interplay is what adds dimensionality.” Photographers and artists aren’t always aware of the options Greenberg can provide them, especially in the case of artists still accustomed to developing prints in a darkroom. He might start out suggesting
to print on a textured or watercolor paper instead of the white fiber paper or high gloss that artists expect to use. “We can experiment with wood, with metal, with canvas, and make an image more painterly or more subtle or more interesting,” he says. Greenberg also teaches at the International Center for Photography. In the spring, he welcomed a group of CA students into his Chelsea studio for a special presentation of his work. He admits to sometimes fantasizing about doing his own “before and after” exhibit to demonstrate how much his efforts enhance his clients’ artistry. In reality, his job is to remain essentially invisible. And if he’s hit the mark, Greenberg says, “There’s a huge difference between what comes into my studio and what goes out. My role is to collaborate with the artists to make their work look even better than it otherwise would.”