ALUMNI UPDATE // Gina Pollack joins team of internationally-renowned photographer JR

Gina Pollack (second from left) in the South Bronx working on a group action for JR's Inside Out project.

Today we check in 3rd Ward member with 3rd Ward alum Gina Pollack, who got her current job, working in the studio of renowned French photographer JR, through 3rd Ward's exclusive Membership Newsletter.

After graduating from NYU, where she studied Photography and Journalism, Pollack worked for a while as a photo re-toucher in a commercial studio, doing mostly cosmetic product photography. "Not surprisingly, I hated it," she says. And then one day the Member Newsletter arrived in her inbox. "I immediately noticed JR's name and the opening to work in his studio on the Inside Out project," she says. "I applied immediately and was called into the studio the next day."

Now Pollack works full-time on Inside Out, a large-scale participatory project. "JR won the TED Prize for 2011 and his wish was to get everyone involved in street art to tell their own stories," she says. "People everywhere from Tunisia to Abu Dhabi upload portraits with personal statements everyday. We approve their submissions at the studio, print their photos into posters and mail them with pasting instructions. Donations are accepted but not required. It's important that anyone can participate."

In addition to being inspired by creativity and diversity that the project has attracted, from group projects on child monks in Thailand to gay rights in Russia to the homeless community in San Francisco, Pollack has learned the unique skill of pasting. "I worked on the wall at Bowery/Houston and Grand/ Wooster, mounting images of Native Americans from a reservation in North Dakota, as well as a project celebrating women in the South Bronx, where we pasted faces from the community holding the eyes of women over their own," she says.

Right now Pollack is working a group action for the anniversary of September 11th, as well as upcoming large-scale actions around the world in places like the Middle East, Detroit and Philadelphia.

Outside of her work with JR, Pollack freelances for the Village Voice, shooting restaurants and concerts, and works on her own travel and documentary projects. "I've self-published a book called 'Sorority Girls,' which documents sorority life in Southern California, and I hope to gain more access to sorority houses to continue the project in the near future," she says. "Last Fall, I photographed an outsider's view of israel, highlighting the many groups (Jews, Muslims, Christians, Yeminites, and Palestinians) and the way they all co-exist in such a beautiful, war-torn country. I am currently working on a new project to document graffiti on ads in the New York subways."

Hit the jump to check out some of Gina Pollack's photography below and swing by her website.

Also, Pollack tells us that JR and his crew are always looking for participants, so if you are interested in leading a group action or submitting a portrait, visit his website and get in touch.