Our country is based on the idea of the middle class as the foundation of a strong and stable American democracy. Yet the costs of being in the middle class have increased steadily over the past three decades, while incomes have remained essentially flat. We now work multiple jobs and longer hours.  We juggle demands of housing, transportation, education, and healthcare, modifying both life and lifestyle to adapt to these new conditions and stresses. How can a photographer make all of this visible?

A new exhibit in the Mann Gallery features work by photojournalist and Harvard neurologist/pediatrician Julian Fisher, who has set out to make the conditions and stresses of America’s middle-class households visible through a series of “metaphorical” portraits of middle class families at home and work. Fisher’s photography is paired with first person narrative and a curated set of data visualizations, produced in part by Cornell faculty and researchers at the Center for the Study of Inequality, to present some of the hard numbers behind the revealing views we see. 

The exhibit is on display in the Mann Gallery (Mann Library, 2nd floor)  through April 9. The Cornell community is invited to join us for an exhibit reception at Mann on Thursday, March 24, 4:30 – 6:30 p.m. 

About the Artist:

­­­­­Julian Fisher studied with Walker Evans as part of his American Studies major at Yale, photographed for the Yale Daily News and freelanced while at Yale and after for The New York Times, Time, Newsweek, Life, and The Atlantic. He pursued a medical degree at Johns Hopkins, becoming a pediatrician and neurologist on the Harvard medical faculty. He has returned to photojournalism with this project and is currently documenting America’s changing position as a global power. He lives and works in Brookline, MA.

Cornell University’s Center for the Study of Inequality (CSI)

Cornell University’s Center for the Study of Inequality (CSI) is devoted to understanding patterns, causes, and consequences of social and economic inequality. CSI fosters new and cutting-edge research, trains undergraduate and graduate students, encourages the exchange of ideas among inequality researchers, and disseminates research findings to a broader public. It supports research and knowledge that is evidence-based and systematic. CSI is based in the Sociology Department in the College of Arts and Sciences and has more than 100 Faculty Affiliates from around campus.