Stanley Greene 1949-2017:

Stanley Greene

Veteran war photographer Stanley Greene passed recently. He made a permanent impression on me with his stark & bracing book Open Wound-Chechnya 1994 to 2003 (Trolley). Heavy shit. His photojournalism for this effort was also joined by writings from Andre Glucksmann & Christian Caujolle. It’s the only large scale photographic work I managed to determine/obtain on Chechnya’s wars (there may well be more in print now that escape my knowledge?). About two thirds of the book is in monochrome, presumably a prism that Greene felt was apt (& you can see why). Christian & Andre’s contributions are also very powerful. Open Wound remains one of the most salient observation & testimony on this brutal conflict/tragedy along with the likes of Oliver Bullough, Anna Politkovskaya, Ilyas Akhmadov, Sebastian Smith, Nicholas Griffin & Asne Seierstad to name a few. One of the most arresting images in the book (pictured), of a woman Chechen fighter, is amplified to even greater poignancy by her accompanying account & story.

Greene died at 68 from cancer after surviving all those war zones!  It’s a great loss that an old-guard with so much experience is leaving us know, during an era of such volatility.

The geezer also founded the Noor Foundation in 2010 which is well worth your attention – noorimages.com