Richard Ross is an artist, activist and distinguished research professor of art based at UC Santa Barbara. Ross has been the recipient of grants from the MacArthur Foundation, Public Welfare Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, the Annie E. Casey Foundations. and. Ross is both Fulbright and Guggenheim Fellow.
His most recent work, the -- In Justice series, turns a lens on the placement and treatment of American juveniles housed by law in facilities that treat, confine, punish, assist and, occasionally, harm them. Four published books and traveling exhibitions of the work continue to see great success while Ross collaborates with juvenile justice stakeholders, using the images as a catalyst for change.
Ross's work has been exhibited at the Tate Modern, London; National Building Museum, Washington D.C; Aperture Gallery, New York; ACME. Gallery, Los Angeles; and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco. He was the principal photographer for the Getty Conservation Institute and the Getty Museum on many of their architectural projects. He has photographed extensively for the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, SF Examiner, Vogue, COLORS, Time, Newsweek, Le Monde and many more. A dozen books of his work have been published including Art as a Weapon for Justice: a guidebook for change 2023, Juvie Talk 2017, Girls in Justice 2015, Juvenile in Justice 2012, Architecture of Authority (Aperture 2007), Waiting for the End of the World (Princeton Architectural Press 2005), Gathering Light (University of New Mexico 2001) and Museology (Aperture 1988).
Represented by Ronald Feldman Fine Arts in New York
EDUCATION
1973, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida MFA
1967, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont, BA
AWARDS/ HONORS
2014, MacArthur Foundation, Publication Grant, Juvie Talk
2014, Gideon Award, California Public Defenders Associations
2013, 20th Annual Media for a Just Society Awards Finalist for Juvenile-in Justice
2013, American Library Assocation’s Alex Award 2013 for Juvenile-in-Justice
2013, Top Ten Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers, American Library Association, Young Adult Library Services Association
2012, Research Grant Award for Juvenile-in-Justice, The Annie E. Casey Foundation
2012, Photo Essay and Feature Story Honorable Mention for Juvenile-in-Justice, International Photography Awards
2012, Forward Thinking Museum, Documentary Photography Award
2012, American Society of Magazine Editors, 2012 Winner for Best News And Documentary Photography
2011, Investing in Artists Grant, Center for Cultural Innovation
2009-2014, Annie E. Casey Foundation Research Grant
2008, Architecture of Authority, Financial Times of Londonʼs Best Books of the Year
2008, Architecture of Authority, PDN Best Books of the year
2007, Architecture of Authority, Art Forumʼs Top Ten Shows of 2007
2007, Guggenheim Fellowship, John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
2007, Grantee, Lannan Foundation2013, Juvenile-in-Justice, 20th Annual Media for a Just Society Awards Finalist, National Council on Crime & Delinquency
MONOGRAPHS
UPCOMING:
2023 First Arrests
2023 Art as a Weapon for Social Justice
—
2017, JUVIE TALK: Unlocking the Language of Lockdown, Image of Justice Press.
2015, Girls in Justice, Essay by Marian Wright Edelman and others, Image of Justice Press.
2013, Shooting Space: Architecture and Photography, by Elias Redstone, Phaidon Press
2012, Juvenile in Justice, Forward by Ira Glass, Essay by Bart Lubow, Self-Published.
2007, Architecture of Authority, Essay by John R. MacArthur, Aperture Press.
2004, Waiting For The End Of The World, Essay by Sarah Vowell, Princeton Architectural Press.
2001, Gathering Light, Intro by Dave Hickey, UNM Press.
1990, Museology, Intro by Marcia Tucker, Aperture Press.
SELECT REVIEWS
2015, KCRW, "A multi-scensory experience of isolation", September 24, 2015
2015, Mother Jones, "These Photos Show What Life is Life For Girls In Juvenile Detention", April 30, 2015
2015, The Culture Trip, "Top 10 Exhibits at Liverpool's LOOK/15 International Photography Festivals"
2014, Santa Barbara News-Press, "Local artist depicts justice system treatment of American youth," February 8, 2014
2014, Univision, "Arte tras las rejas en exhibición en California," March 11, 2014
2013, New York Times, "Richard Ross - "Juvenile-in-Justice", by Holland Cotter, January 31, 2013
2013, Harper's Magazine, "Mentions - Richard Ross Exhibition in New York," January 29, 2013
2013, The Village Voice, "Arresting Images: Richard Ross...", by Robert Shuster, January 23, 2013
2013, Art Forum, "Juvenile-in-Justice at Ronald Feldman Fine Arts," January 2013
2013, New Yorker Magazine, "Richard Ross at Ronald Feldman Gallery," January 2013
2012, ProPublica, “Land of the Free: the Best Investigative Reporting on U.S Prisons,” by Cora Currier
2009, BOSTON GLOBE “The artist outlines, the viewer fills in” Review of Clark Gallery: Museology and Gathering Light (Exhibition) October 14, 2009
2009, THE WASHINGTON POST “In Stark ʻAuthority,ʼ Artist Asks the Tough Questions.” Architecture of Authority (Exhibition) May 21, 2009
2009, THE WASHINGTON TIMES “Control Rooms – California photographer examines settings of power plays” Architecture of Authority (Exhibition), April 26, 2009
2008, WIRED “Inside the Architecture of Authority”
SELECT PUBLICATIONS & INTERVIEWS
2020 CENTRUM Creativity in Community, in conversation with Shaminder Dulai
2020 National Gallery of Art, Conversation with Dwayne Betts and Candice Jones
2020 PBS Tell Me More PBS Feature with Bryan Stevenson
2019 PBS Brief But Spectacular with Judy Woodruff
2017, "Juvie Talk", Authored and Photographed
2017, Juvenile Justice Information Exchange, "Book Review - Juvie Talk: Unlocking the Language of Juvenile Justice"
2017, Vera Institute of Justice, "Supporting Kids and Young Adults", Article Photographed
2016, ATD Fourth World, "Jail is No Place for Children", Article Photographed
2016, Multisystematic Therapy, "Richard Ross: The Story Behind His Photographs"
2016, Amnesty International, "Weggewerkt", Cover Photographed, Article Photographed
2016, Mother Jones, "Minor Threats", Feature
2016, Kids In Jail, Back Cover Photographed
2016, Children's Law Center of California, "Governor Brown Signed SB1143", Article Photographed
2016, Southern Poverty Law Center, "More Harm Than Good", Photographs Featured, Cover Photoraphed
2016, The Nation, "The Battle Against Prison for Kids", Article Photographed
2016, Takepart, "Solitary Confinement", Videography
2016, The Intercept, "Supreme Cout Gives New Hope to Juvenile Lifers, But Will States Deliver", Article Photographed
2016, Vantage, "Continuum: The connections between Gitmo, Abu Ghraib and prisons for kids in America are clear", Article Written & Photographed
2015, San Francisco Chronicle, "Too many girls are locked up to keep them 'safe'", Article Written & Photographed
2015, CNN, "Girls behind bars tell their story", Article Illustrated
2015, Courrier-Post, "Incarcerated Art", Feature
2015, Harper's Magazine, "Captive Market:Why we won't get prison reform", Report Illustrated
2015, KCRW Art Talk, "World Isn't Worth Saving if the Price Is a Tear of an Innocent Child,"
2015, Vantage, "What Are We Doing Here? Some thoughts on cell walls and gallery walls," Article Illustrated
2015, The Marshall Project, "Call Me Mandi", Article Written & Illustrated
2015, The New York Times, "36 Hours in San Luis Obispo, Calif.", Article Photographed
2015, Mother Jones, "These Photos Show What Life Is Like For Girls In Juvenile Detention," Article Illustrated
2015, San Quentin News, "Capturing the Stories of 1,000 Jailed Juveniles," Article Illustrated
2014, Susan Kuklin, No Choirboy, Cover Illustrated
2014, Miranda Joseph, Debt to Society: Accounting for Life Under Capitalism, Cover Illustrated
2014, Nell Berstein, Burning Down the House: The End of Juvenile Prison, Cover Ilustrated
2014, Citizens for Juvenile Justice, "Unlocking Potential: Addressing the overuse of juvenile detention in Massachusetts," Report Illustrated
2014, Campaign for Youth Justice, Infographic Illustrated
2014, The Hill, "We Still Have a Juvenile Incarceration Problem," Article written by Richard Ross
2014, Juvenile Justice Information Exchange, "Images of Detained Children Haunt US Senate Rotunda," Article Illustrated
2014, Burk Foster, Paula Broussard, Christopher De Lay, Kenneth Jaccuzzo, and Ray Von Robertson, Ph.D., Criminal Justice in Louisiana,
2014, Aljazeera America, "LA Schools to end zero-tolerance policies and criminalization of students," Article Illustrated
2014, Mark Dostert, Up in Here: Jailing Kids on Chicago's Other Side, Cover Illustrated
2014, Naomi Murakawa, The First Civil Right: How Liberals Built Prison America, Cover Illustrated
2013, Wired.com, "Bad Food, a Bible, and a Blanket: 24 Hours in Juvenile Solitary Confinement," Video Feature
2013, KCET-TV, "Geographies of Detention," Artbound Documentary, Video Interview
2013, Contexts, "Juvenile in Justice by Richard Ross," Photo Essay
2013, McGraw Hill, "Juvenile Delinquency: Bridging Theory to Practice," Textbook Illustrated
2012, Newsweek's The Daily Beast, "In 'Juvenile In Justice,' Children Caught in America's Prison System
2012, The Takeaway, “Juvenile Justice Through the Lends of Photographer Richard Ross”
2012, CBS News, 48 Hours Mystery, “Juvenile in Justice” photo project captures kids behind bars”,
2012, Wired.com, “Uncompromising Photos Expose Juvenile Detention in America” April 11
2012, PBS Newshour, “Juvenile Education: Inside a Confined World,” Interview with Richard Ross
2012, NPR, “An Unusual Glimpse Behind Bars: Juveniles in the Justice System,” feature on Juvenile In Justice
2011, Annie E. Casey Foundation, images used in report: “No Place for Kids-The Case for Reducing Juvenile Incarceration”
SELECT EXHIBITIONS
ROOMS and SPACES Silvia Steinek Galerie Vienna Austria 19 Feb-19 March
MUSEOLOGY The Museum Of Quint Gallery LaJolla, CA Feb 27-April 27
Girls In Conflict With The Law, San Francisco, Feb 2021
2019 Social Fabric Collective County Courthouse, Wilkes-Barre PA.
2019 “Juvenile-in-Justice” (solo exhibition) American University, Washington D.C
2018 “Juvenile-in-Justice” (solo exhibition) University of California, Irvine
2018 “Juvenile-in-Justice” (solo exhibition) University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont
2018 “Juvenile-in-Justice” (solo exhibition) Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana
2018 “Juvenile-in-Justice” (solo exhibition) University of New Mexico, New Mexico
2016 "Juvenile-in-Justice", Illinois State University, Normal, Illinois
2016 "Isolation" (solo exhibition), Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia
2016 "Juvenile-in-Justice" Clark Gallery, Boston, Massachusetts
2016 "Isolation" (solo exhibition), Inliquid, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
2016 "Juvenile-in-Justice" (solo + group exhibition), Colorado College, Colorado Springs, Colorado
2015 "Juvenile-in-Justice" (group exhibtion), Open Eye Gallery, Liverpool, UK
2015 "Girls-in-Justice" (solo exhibition), Joan Mitchell Center, New Orleans, Louisiana
2015 "Juvenile-in-Justice" (solo exhibition), Augustana College, Rock Island, Illinois
2015 "Juvenile-in-Justice" (solo exhibition), Rutgers University, Camden, New Jersey
2015, "Girls-in-Justice" (solo exhibition), Figge Art Museum, Davenport, Iowa
2015 "Juvenile-in-Justice" (solo exhibition), University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama
2015 "Juvenile-in-Justice" (solo exhibition), World Congress of Juvenile Justice, Geneva, Switzerland
2014 "Juvenile-in-Justice" (solo exhibition), University of Memphis, Memphis, Tennessee
2014 "Juvenile-in-Justice" (solo exhibition), Senate Rontunda Gallery, US Capitol, Washington D.C.
2014 "Juvenile-in-Justice" (solo exhibition), Heart Mountain, Powell, Wyoming
2014 "Juvenile-in-Justice" (solo exhibition), National Conference on Crime Prevention, Karisruhe, Germany
2014 "Juvenile-in-Justice" (Award), California Public Defenders Association Gideon Award: Media/Journalism/Awareness
2014 "Juvenile-in-Justice" (solo exhibition), Georgia State Judges and CWLS Conference, Waverly, Georgia
2014 "Juvenile-in-Justice" (solo exhibition), Harvard Law School, Wasserstein Hall, Cambrridge, Massachusetts
2014 "Juvenile-in-Justice" (solo exhibition), Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, Rhode Island
2014 "Juvenile-in-Justice" (solo exhibition), Emory University School of Law, Atlanta, Georgia
2014 "Juvenile-in-Justice" (Talk), Boston College Law School, Newton, Massachsetts
2014 "Juvenile-in-Justice" (solo exhibition), Ulrich Museum, Wichita, Kansas
2014 "Juvenile-in-Justice" (solo exhibition), University of Central Oklahoma, Edmund, Oklahoma
2014 "Juvenile-in-Justice" (solo exhibition), Herron Galleries, Indianapolis, Indiana
2014 "Juvenile-in-Justice" (solo exhibition), Art Museum at the University of Memphis, Memphis, Tennesse
2013 "Juvenile-in-Justice" (solo exhibition), Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, New York
2013 "Juvenile-in-Justice" (solo exhibition), Anzenberger Gallery, Vienna, Austria
2013 "Juvenile-in-Justice" (solo exhibition), "Che Mondo," Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, Los Angeles, California
2013 "Juvenile-in-Justice" (solo exhibition), Ice Box, Crane Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvainia
2013 “Juvenile-in-Justice” (solo), Anzenberger Gallery, Vienna, Austria
2013 "Juvenile-in-Justice" (solo), Centre d'Action Laïque, Charleroi, Belgium
2013 “Juvenile-in-Justice” (solo exhibition), Ronald Feldman Gallery, New York, New York
2012 “Juvenile-in-Justice” (solo exhibition), Nevada Museum of Art, Reno, Nevada
2012 “Juvenile-in-Justice” (solo exhibition), Gage Gallery, Roosevelt University, Chicago, Illinois
2012 “Juvenile-in-Justice” (solo exhibition), Paris West University Nanterre, Paris, France
2012 “Juvenile-in-Justice” (solo exhibition), Kennesaw State University, Atlanta, Georgia
2012 "Opening the Black Box: the Charge Is Torture" (group), School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinios
2012 “Sight Specific: LACPS and the Politics of Community” (group exhibition), USC Fisher Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California
2011 “Awkward Stage: Adolescence and Identity” (group exhibition) Sun Valley Center for the Arts, Ketchum, Idaho
2010 “Exposed” (group exhibition) Tate Modern, London, England
2010 “Teenage: You Just Donʼt Understand” (group exhibition) Catherine Clark Gallery, San Francisco, California
2010 “Animal Instinct: Allegory, Allusion, & Anthropomorphism” (group exhibition) John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, Wisconsin
2009 “Architecture of Authority” (solo exhibition) National Building Museum, Washington, D.C.
2009 “Incognito” (group exhibition) Santa Monica Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California
2008 “Architecture of Authority” (solo exhibition), Aperture Gallery, New York, New York
2008 PULSE, New York Art Fair, New York, New York
2008 “Architecture of Authority” (solo exhibition) Nerman Museum, Kansas City, Kansas
2007 “Architecture of Authority” (solo exhibition), ACME Gallery, Los Angeles, California
2007 “Surveillance” (group exhibition) San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, California
SELECT LECTURES & SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS
Texas A&M College Station, Texas October 2022
National Justice Museum, Nottingham, ENG Spring 2023
Fashion Institute of Technology New York, April 2022
HOLA Hearts of LA High School Enrichment for LA High School students 2020
Public Welfare Foundation in conjunction with National Gallery of Art, Washington DC 2020
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Social Fabric Collective Keynote. October 2019.
Georgetown Law Juvenile Justice Initiative, Washington, D.C. October 2019
2016 Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.
2016 Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, R.I.
2016 Lecture Series, Photo Alliance, San Francisco Art Institute
2016 Lecture, Honors college, University of New Mexico, New Mexico
2015, Hammer Museum, with Peter Sellars, Human Faces in the American Juvenile Justice Gulag
2015, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, Ferris journalism lecture
2015, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, Kirwan Institute for the study of race and ethnicity and Moritz Schhol of Law (Keynote)
2015, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon
2015, International Juvenile Justice Conference, Geneva, Switzerland
2015, Figge Museum of Art, Davenport, Iowa
2015, Painted Bride Art Center, Philadlphia, PA
2015 RISD, Providence, R.I.
2014, The Oxbow School, Napa, California
2014, California State University, Long Beach, California |
2014, United States House of Representatives "The Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act: Keeping Kids and Communities Safe." Hearing panel member and presenter. Washington D.C.
2014 National Conference on Crime Prevention, Karisruhe, Germany
2014, Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas
2014, Harvard University Law School, Cambridge, Massachusetts
2014, Bostcon College, School of Law, Newtown, Massachusetts
2014, University of Central Oklahoma, Edmund, Oklahoma
2014, Ulrich Museum, Wichita State University, Wichita, Kansas
2014, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, Rhode Island
2014, Hernon Museum, University of Purdue and Inidana University, Indianapolis, Indiana
2014, Georgia State Judges and CWLS Confwerence, Waverly, Georgia
2013, Hearst Distinguished Lecture, Florida International University, Miami, Florida
2013, Centre d'Action Laique, Charleroi, Belgium
2013, National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges 76th Annual Conf, Seattle, WA
2013, Keynote Speaker, JEW/NSPA Spring National High School Journalism Convention, San Francisco Marriott Marquis, San Francisco, Calfornia
2013, “From Art to Activism: Performance, Photography and Documentary,” Association for the Study of Law, Culture and the Humanities 16th Annual Conference, Birkbeck Law School, University of London, England
2013, “Photographie et documentaires: de l’art à l’activism, Maison des Sciences de la Communication et l’Information,” Université Paris 8, Paris, France
2013, Keynote “Juvenile Justice:A Photographer’s View,” California Public Defenders Association, Monterey, Calfornia
2013, “Richard Ross Turns His Lens on the Juvenile Justice System,” Vera Voices Event at the Vera Institute of Justice, New York, NY
2012, Models for Change: Systems Reform in Juvenile Justice, Seventh Annual National Working Conference, Coalition for Juvenile Justice, Washington, DC
2012, “Juvenile-in-Justice: An Interdisciplinary Documentary Project by UCSB Faculty and Students (as seen on PBS),” Corwin Pavilion, UCSB, Santa Barbara, California
2012, Keynote Second Annual Lives in the Balance Conference: We’re Not Done Yet!, The Stakes are High: Breaking the School to Prison Pipeline, Maine Juvenile Justice Advisory Group (JJAG), Portland, Massachusetts
2012, Art as Moral Action: Impunity and Democracy, A Deep Failure of Imagination and Systematic Infliction and Deepening of Damage: Juvenile Justice in America, UCLA, Los Angeles, California
2012, Keynote “First Annual Justice for Youth Summit,” American University, Washington, D.C.
2012, Pennsylvania State Law School “Brown Bag Lunch Discussion”, University Park, Pennsylvania
2012, National Symposium on Juvenile Services
2012, Women In Government Conference “Outreach to Vulnerable Populations: Building Better Futures for America’s Teens & Young Adults”, Portland, Oregon
2012, UCSB Research Mentorship Program, Santa Barbara, California
2012, Seventh International Conference on Interdisciplinary Social Sciences, Barcelona, Spain.
2012 Interview, PBS Newshour, “Juvenile Education: Inside a Confined World,” Broadcast.