[5] Greene began his art career as a painter, but started taking photos as a means of cataloging material for his paintings.

[5] After a friend died of AIDS, Greene kicked his drug habit and began to seriously pursue a photography career.

He covered the war-torn countries Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Iraq, Somalia, Croatia, Kashmir, and Lebanon.

[3] After 1994, Greene was best known for his documentation of the conflict in Chechnya, between rebels and the Russian Armed Forces, which was compiled in his 2004 book, Open Wound.

[3] These photos drew attention to the "suffering that has marked the latest surge in Chechnya's centuries-long struggle for independence from Russia".