We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jesse Greene a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Jesse, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Do you feel you or your work has ever been misunderstood or mischaracterized? If so, tell us the story and how/why it happened and if there are any interesting learnings or insights you took from the experience?

Well for me there are a few ways I look at the term mischaracterized and how I can apply that to my experiences as an artist. For one being a male creative that makes content using women as the subject can sometimes become difficult and being black doesn’t make it any easier. Let’s start with the black element and the hurdles I’ve faced not only a photographer but a painter as well. Being a black multidisciplinary artist can sometimes marginalize you in a unique way, you see the black creative is always expected to create works based on culture and not expression. In other words, I’m not credible if I’m not painting something that either embraces the pain or struggles I may face as a black person or focuses on someone who has faced it. I know a lot of black creatives that do abstract work but they are sometimes criticized as if they can only use their creative abilities to show sadness or injustice. When I paint I like to focus on color theory and balance. There is nothing political or hyper cultural about my paintings at all and by doing this people assume I’m not even a black artist. On the other side of things when it comes to my photography people want me to shoot black people more than any other race simply because I am black when in reality, I have shot an equal amount of every race, and honestly am always willing to shoot people who actually WANT to shoot. The doors are open to everyone but there’s a misconception that I’m selective which has never been the case. I was and still do work for a African American women’s business magazine in Chicago so how am I biased? It makes me laugh most of the time. I think the worst misconception is that I have sexual relationships with my subjects or that there’s some kind of underlying motive to just have a bunch of naked pictures of people hidden away somewhere. In actuality, I’ve published or shown a lot of my work in galleries and have never once found my photography to be a source for any type of sexual gratification, that mindset to me is simply gross and immature. I genuinely feel bad for people who think this way and I question their personas because sometimes it will the accuser that is the perpetrator of that kind of predatory behavior.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I started out getting deep into graffiti art and I did a lot of photo work for my mother at a young age. Over time I tried to make my graffiti work more mainstream by painting is on canvas and collaborating with other artists to develop my skills. I picked up photography in high school in the 90’s and got more into fashion editorials and artistic nudes around 2006 when I was managing a boutique in Chicago and saw all the different look books and magazines like VICE and FRANK. This inspiration took me to New York, New Orleans and Paris for several years to shoot fashion events and models as well as architecture and abandoned buildings. I’ve been creating art now for over 25 years. Currently I’m publishing my own magazines and building a larger body of work to show in different cities like Chicago where I’m from, Houston, New York and Paris again. I think one thing that sets me apart are the different mediums I produce with, the materials I use and the skill level I’m at. I have gotten to a point where I am equally good at all applications.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I learned that at a certain point you can’t let people into your creative space anymore. I’ve had some strange and unpleasant interactions with people in the creative world that made me realize a person can smile in your face and ask you for your time and then without you even knowing it they’re running your name through the dirt. I won’t name any names or tell any specific stories but if you know you know. I had to unlearn the whole concept of collaboration and letting people in my creative space that I originally trusted and believed in because I learned that some people are dealing with personal things were not aware of and that same trauma can be projected onto you for no reason at all. Strong creative minds are fragile at times, even mine. However, the difference between me and most people is that I see the beauty in everyone, and I let them into my space which is my weakness and I keep my traumas to myself. This year I concluded that I must evolve and move on to the next level. I have done hundreds of editorials and I’ve begun to not find the same amount of joy that I used to. I don’t feel this way about painting, but I do want to evolve within that medium as well.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

Originally it was the idea that I could make anyone look like a work of art visually through my photography. Now the most rewarding part is looking back at what I’ve accomplished and knowing I can evolve. Seeing where you’ve made it to compared to where you came from is a great feeling because a lot of artists give up when they don’t get the results they wanted. It’s a long game and I’m definitely in it for life.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.jessegreeneart.com
• Instagram: @jessegreene_ @denseones @archival_greene_ @repurposedbyjessegreene_ @the_darling_heroines

Image Credits
Photography and art by Jesse Greene