Since picking up a camera at age 30, Zoe Strauss has created her own brand of candid portraiture. Roaming the streets of South Philadelphia, where she was born and raised, Strauss reveals the spirit of the area through her images, capturing moments that make the viewer both uneasy and inspire. Strauss has always “shot what she knows”, and the result is a window into worlds that most would never get the chance to experience. Strauss has a magnetism about her, and is able to photograph people in such an intimate light because of it. On her blog, which is constantly updated with new work, we also get to know the witty person behind the lens. An excerpt from a recent online entry reads:
"Could someone PLEASE put a up an entry about me on Conservapedia, the new "anyone can put up information" open encyclopedia that favors "Christianity and America." I’m not making this up.
suggested tags for the conservapedia entry on Zoe Strauss: prominent
muffdivers
anarchists
Jewish atheists
pinkos
1970’s births
"fatite" women
armchair bolsheviks
hirsute
Philadelphia sports fans"
In her second exhibition America We Love Having You Here, at Silverstein Photography, Strauss’ narrative extends to her travels throughout the United States, and is accompanied by her first monograph. On view through January 10, 2009, this salon-style show includes living room furniture so that gallery guests feel at home. I caught up with Strauss after her opening to ask a couple of questions about the new work and her book America.
All images: © Zoe Strauss, Courtesy Bruce Silverstein Gallery
You spend most of your time in Philadelphia, photographing the people and the neighborhoods there, are your subjects people you know, or do you get to know them through photographing them?
The people who I make photos of are strangers, and occasionally I get to know them after I’ve asked to make their photo… but for the most part I make the photo and that’s the end of our relationship.
You shoot a lot of down and out people, is it hard to not let their psychology affect you?
Almost all of the people who I make photographs of are just going about their daily lives and there’s a whole range of things happening, some great, some horrible, most completely ordinary. When I make a photo of someone I usually get a lot out of the meeting and it’s almost always a positive encounter, even if it’s in a difficult situation.
If you could be a fly on any artist’s studio wall, who would it be?
What kind of camera do you use?
A Nikon D300 and before that a Nikon D70 and before that a Minolta Dimage point and shoot and before that a Canon 35mm Rebel.
Tell me about the book you just put out "America". How long was this in the making?
About a year and a half working on the book, and almost all of the photos are from the last year and a half, although a few of the photographs are from 2004-2006.
Was the book politically motivated in any way?
Why, yes! Look at this hot mess we’re in from the Bush administration, I wanted the book to be released at the end of this horrific era.
Where were you for the election?
In South Philly, my G-d that was an awesome day.
While you sell your prints for gallery prices, you also have printouts for sale on your website for $5, so everyone has access to them. Did your gallery ever try to put the kybosh on this?
Nope! My gallery, Bruce Silverstein Gallery, is very supportive of my work and while they might try to push me to edition the larger prints, they are really committed to my work, which is so, so great.
Do you consider yourself an artist?
Yes
Who are your heroes?
Emma Goldman, Nelson Mandela, Lynn Bloom
What about your production process? What is the advantage of outputting images as matte printouts as opposed to a c-print or another method?
I print in about a billion different ways, but the larger prints I’m making right now are archival ink-jet prints. They should last longer than c-prints.
If you were on a reality show what would be the subject matter?
It would be a self-help show, “Lord, Help This Woman Clean Her House!”
When was the last time you went to temple?
About 3 years ago for Alex Mechanick’s Bar Mitzvah, which was a great blow out affair. I was babysitter for Alex, and his brother Brian, for almost 15 years and they attended the same temple from preschool. Love you, Alex and Brian!
Chinatown bus, train, or car?
Train or car… I am prone to motion sickness and while the Chinatown bus is much cheaper, I’ll be paying a higher price in many other ways.
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