Judy Gelles
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American, born 1944
Projects/Portfolios
Sunrise / Sunset
Fourth Grade Project-Back
Introduction
Over the past seven years I have interviewed and photographed over 200 fourth grade students from a wide range of economic and cultural backgrounds around the world. I asked all of the students the same three questions: Who do you live with? What do you wish for? What do you worry about?
The children are presented as individuals; however, their stories speak to greater pervasive truths and problems within our society. Told in their own words, their stories touch on some of our most pressing social issues and common human experiences.
A notable commonality across all schools was that every group of fourth-graders had little contact with or knowledge of people from cultural or socioeconomic backgrounds different than their own. By bringing disparate cultures together in the same room, on the same wall, side by side, I send two vital, accurate messages: all of these cultures are different but equally valuable; and all of these cultures are alike in essential ways
The Fourth Grade Project connects children locally and globally, building bridges and tearing down walls.
Fourth Grade Project-Front
Introduction
Over the past seven years I have interviewed and photographed over 200 fourth grade students from a wide range of economic and cultural backgrounds around the world. I asked all of the students the same three questions: Who do you live with? What do you wish for? What do you worry about?
The combination of frontal and reverse portraits allowed for the development of both personal and universal stories. The children are presented as individuals; however, their stories speak to greater pervasive truths and problems within our society. Told in their own words, their stories touch on some of our most pressing social issues and common human experiences.
A notable commonality across all schools was that every group of fourth-graders had little contact with or knowledge of people from cultural or socioeconomic backgrounds different than their own. By bringing disparate cultures together in the same room, on the same wall, side by side, I send two vital, accurate messages: all of these cultures are different but equally valuable; and all of these cultures are alike in essential ways
The Fourth Grade Project connects children locally and globally, building bridges and tearing down walls.
Family Ties: Three Generations
Introduction
Three generations of the Gelles family artifacts become a social commentary on our lives, past, present, and future.
Family Portrait 1977-1982
Introduction
Documenting the struggles of a woman and a young mother were important to me. I grew up in the 1950’s when white middle-class girls were taught that their main goals in life were to become wives and mothers. The problem was, our actual experiences didn’t fit in with what we had been told. When I began photographing in 1977, I had delusions of creating smiling, beautiful images of my two sons. But I quickly discovered that the true view of home life was very different than what family photo albums tend to reveal. I had to show life as it was. I did it in my own home, five small rooms, two small children; I wanted to keep a record as I lived it.
DeSoto Gallery, Venice, CA, United States
Etherton Gallery, Tuscon, AZ, United States
Pentimenti Gallery, Philadelphia, PA, United States
Artist Statement
My work is conceptual, photo based, using words and images to provide social commentary on who we are and how we think.
Judy Gelles received her MFA in photography from the Rhode Island School of Design and her Masters in Counseling from the University of Miami. Her work is in major collections including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Museum of Modern Art in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She has had residencies at the MacDowell Colony, the Visual Studies Workshop, and the Atlantic Center for the Arts. Her work has been featured in Ms. Magazine; Vision Magazine, Beijing, China; Camerawork; New Art Examiner; Artweek and Photography Now.
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