"Unscripted Art Chat" with Zoe Strauss and Knight Foundation VP/Arts Dennis Scholl. Photo courtesy Nathan Valentine/WorldRedEye.com. In spite of the bombardment of images and information that have become a mainstay of life today, Zoe Strauss still believes in the power of that one single image that cements a moment in time and touches lives in unexpected ways. Strauss, a 44-year-old self-taught photographer who first picked up a camera at age 30, was the focus of the third art chat sponsored this year by Bal Harbour Village’s “Unscripted Art Projects,” a public arts program started three years ago to bring arts to the community, commission works to make Bal Harbour a creative destination and to foster critical dialogue. The Philadelphia native was interviewed Sept. 4 during the event at One Bal Harbour Resort & Spa by Dennis Scholl, vice president of arts for Knight Foundation and an art collector who, along with his wife Debra, knows Strauss’ work well. Against a background of her photos, the unassuming and casually dressed Strauss spoke with Scholl about what motivates her, how her photography actually happens, about the reality that she wants to share through the lens of her camera and how what she photographs is related to a particular person or place or moment. “There are very specific images that mark periods of time for people,” said Strauss, “where one can say, ‘This is where I was at this particular time,’ and invoke something very different from the constant barrage of images and videos that we are normally inundated with.” People can refer to those images to evoke an emotion or feeling, or relive a particular chapter of their lives.
