Saturday, January 23, 2016

Gerry Yaum - "Artist Statement"

After my recent "Inside Scoop" workshop at the AGSA gallery I have been reworking my "Artist Statement" and my, Forgotten Laughter: Children of the Dump "Exhibition Proposal".

Here is the latest version of the my Artist Statement. This thing will probably change many times yet, but for now, this is what I got!

Artist Statement

My name is Gerry Yaum, I am a social documentary photographer. I believe that the greatest achievement I can attain as an artist is to educate, inform and provoke discussion through my work. My goal in all of my photography is to tell the stories of forgotten people, those lives that might be ignored and marginalized by many in our society. My job as an artist is create work that shows the shared connection, the shared humanity all human beings have, regardless of race, religion, nationality or economic status.

My artistic influences include the humanist artists Lewis Hine, Dorothea Lange, Mary Ellen Mark, Walker Evans, Paul Strand, Eugene W. Smith, Edvard Munch, Weegee, Paul Gauguin, Fazel Sheikh, Sebastiao Salgado, Richard Avedon and Paolo Pellegrin.