Julia Gillard

Julia Gillard is a New York street photographer with a Midwesterner’s eye for observing open spaces. A graduate of the International Center of Photography’s Photojournalism and Documentary Studies program, Gillard’s work has been exhibited at The New York Historical Society, The International Center of Photography and The Brooklyn Museum. Her photographs have been published in The New York Times, Mother Jones, Photograph Magazine and The Financial Times. Gillard is a visiting artist and critic at Bard College and St. John’s University and is the photo editor of the Diner Journal, an independent magazine featuring original art, literature and recipes.

American Holidays

American Holidays is a project that considers American culture on national holidays, as a way to better understand who we are by looking at what it is we celebrate and commemorate. Holidays can be joyful days but they are also weighted and biased, as they selectively acknowledge who and what has value and importance in our politics and society. I am motivated by my interest in what is uniquely American, the ceremony and ritual of social gatherings, the fanfare, the food, the clothing and costumes, who participates and who does not. My goal is to catalog this time in history, to photograph as a sociologist or political scientist would, to study the collective psyche of a country that is emotional, exuberant and deeply flawed.

To view more of Julia Gillard’s work please visit their website.