Judith Joy Ross is an American photographer born in 1946, who has made her first portraits in the streets of Philadelphia. After focusing on passers-by, students in elementary and high schools, and the youth in the early 80s, she turned her attention to the political world. She produced a series on elected representatives in the U.S. Congress, as well as on soldiers serving in Iraq, which complemented her vision of American society. Resistance, commitment, the hardships of the social world: the ordinary life is transcended in Ross’ images.
Noticed very early by the MoMA in New York, Judith Joy Ross' images were included in the famous exhibition New Photography, organized by John Szarkowski in 1985. Her work is also presented in numerous international collections, including the Victoria & Albert Museum in London and the Ludwig Museum in Cologne. She has also been widely exhibited, notably at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (1993), at C/O Berlin (2008) and more recently at the MAPFRE Foundation (2021) and LE BAL (2022).