Stanley Greene grew up in Brooklyn in a family of actors: his father was one of the first African Americans elected to the board of the actors' union, and found himself, under McCarthy, on the Hollywood blacklist. A painter first, he came to photography to document his subjects, campaigned with the Black Panthers against the war in Vietnam, then became a war reporter. Two dates to the day are carved, and nothing else.
The story
His father was one of the first African Americans elected to the board of the Screen Actors Guild, the American actors' union, and appeared in the 1950s on the Hollywood blacklist: after that he was given only anonymous bit parts. His mother was an actress too. Stanley Greene was born on 14 February 1949 into that world, in Brooklyn.
He began his career as a painter, then took up photography to document his subjects. In 1971, at twenty-two, he was a member of the Black Panthers, against the Vietnam War. He became a war photographer of note and covered many conflicts.
He died at Clichy on 19 May 2017. The stone in Division 44 gives both his dates to the day: “Stanley GREENE, 14.02.1949 – 19.05.2017.” Neither the Black Panthers, nor the wars he documented.
The grave
An inscription reduced to a name and two dates given to the day: “Stanley GREENE, 14.02.1949 – 19.05.2017.” Neither the profession, nor the conflicts covered, nor the Black Panthers of 1971, nor the actor father put on the communist blacklist. The war photographer rests a few rows from Lucas Dolega, killed in Tunis in 2011 — two reporters in the same Division.
On site, do not miss
Look a few rows away: Lucas Dolega, killed in Tunis in 2011, rests in the same Division. Two war reporters, two stones silent about the job.
Visitors' questions
Where is Stanley Greene's grave?
In Division 44, chemin du Quinconce, thirteenth row — not far from the photojournalist Lucas Dolega. The inscription gives both his dates to the day: “Stanley GREENE, 14.02.1949 – 19.05.2017”. Born in Brooklyn, he died at sixty-eight, on the outskirts of Paris.
Lucas DolegaWho was his father?
An actor, Stanley Greene senior, one of the first African Americans elected to the board of the Screen Actors Guild — and blacklisted as a communist in the 1950s. His mother was an actress too. His parents gave him his first camera at eleven.
Gerda TaroWas he a Black Panther?
He was, in 1971, at twenty-two, in the movement against the Vietnam War. That same year the photographer W. Eugene Smith took him under his wing, opened his studio to him and steered him towards the School of Visual Arts in New York.
Yılmaz GüneyHow did he come to photography?
Through painting: he started out as a painter and first photographed to catalogue his canvases. Then came the Berlin Wall, in 1989, of which he took one of the most widely reproduced images, and Chechnya, which he covered from 1994 to 2003: Open Wound. He co-founded the NOOR agency in 2007.
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