INTERVIEW WITH ZOE STRAUSS

> How did you come to take the kind of photographs that you take?

>> I thought of the "Under I-95" project and then I started to take the photographs for it, and it was really just things that were close to me, literally geographically, things that were in my life, my neighborhood and places that I know in Philadelphia, and that's the genesis of it. Even though it's expanded to include different places that I traveled to, it all comes back to that initial project, to things I know and feel.

> What other artists have inspired/influenced you?

>> I would say the most important is Anselm Kiefer. And that's for a number of reasons, but one being the structure of his paintings, the layering of ideas in his paintings. He had a very direct influence on my work. I loke a lot of the Works Progress Administration photographers, though I am more interested in the history of photography at that time, rather than any specific work. And also 1970s feminist art, which has influenced me in terms of ideas, not necessarily production.

> Which particular artists?

>> Nancy Spero, and I would say Walker Evans. Together with Anselm Kiefer.

> Your work has been compared to Diane Arbus. Do you agree?

>> No, I don't, not at all. I am a great admirer of Diane Arbus, and I think her work is beautiful, and can often be transcendent, but I can't even begin to understand where the comparison comes from. Maybe because they are portraits of people, and that they involve intimate things? Or that these aren't people the way they are presented on television? There's always a kind of voyeurism in photography - it's unavoidable, but I would hope that I would present these people with a great affection and as part of an interaction I've had with them. Not in a moment of grotesqueness, which is also possible, but that's not how I see any of them. And I would hope that most others would also see it like that.

> Do you approach people with the camera out and ask to take their picture?

>> I always have the camera out.

> Do you develop a personal attachment to the people and places you capture so intimately?

>> Yes, I do. Almost all of the people whom I photograph are complete strangers when I approach them to take their portrait. Since I've been doing it a couple of years, I see people repeatedly and I know them now from around the neighborhood. I have a very specific attachment to the area, too. I like to get to know a neighborhood pretty well, know how it's changing, and know the intricacy of a neighborhood.

> Why do you sell your photographs for $5 at "Under I-95" show?

>> Because it's an affordable price. That's something I could afford, and a price that often the people in my neighborhood could afford, and one that would allow my work to be accessible to most people who come to the show. That's a big part of the project, allowing the art to also be out in the community. That's how it should be; you should just be able to buy it. What's the big deal? Photography is a reproductive medium. It can be reproduced and sold for $5.

Zoe Strauss' next "Under I-95" exhibit is on May 4, 2008 at Front and Mifflin St. in South Philadelphia. Click here to view the flyer for the show and here to watch a YouTube video from 2006 show.