Joseph Gerard is a fine art photojournalist based in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis & St Paul, Minnesota, USA. He travels frequently for projects and commissions, and specializes in work that explores humanist and emerging social themes.

From an early age, Joseph dreamed of being a photojournalist. As a twelve-year-old, he hung a handmade sign on his bedroom door: “Joseph Gerard Photography - We shoot birthdays, weddings, and other celebrations,” accompanied by an open/close sign on a rubber band he flipped when he left the house. He began shooting professionally at sixteen when his school district faced a teachers’ strike. As the midnight strike deadline approached, Joseph discovered where last-minute negotiations were taking place and talked his way into the building. When an agreement was finally reached, Joseph got the shot he wanted: a handshake between the leaders of each side, with a clock in the background reading just after 2 a.m. Joseph was hooked on photography as a career when that photo went out on the Associated Press wire.

Joseph grew up in the profession studying the work of foundational photojournalists like W Eugene Smith, Dorothea Lange, Elliot Erwitt and Gordon Parks, and more recently Sebastião Salgado, Lynsey Addario and Abbas. In the tradition of these masters, Joseph strives to capture intimate and telling moments that are universally human while also showing people in context with their environments.

Joseph is currently working on a commission titled "The Faces of Humanism" that will result in a gallery show and a permanent large-scale installation. He is also working on a long-term project examining the lives of people living on the streets of major European cities, along with several other commissions that are in the planning stages.