Zoe Strauss - Camden, NJ photography

Zoe Strauss has always cut right into my heart with the intense honesty of her photography, images that really burn in your head, make you chuckle and sigh at the same time. She somehow manages to shoot some of the most crestfallen, hopeless people with an unfakeable dignity and respect I find lacking in most photography that tackles these images. Perhaps it's the twinkle in the eye of a tattered Grandma waiting under the rails, or the blue sky that watches over an Aldi's bag caught in a bush; somehow, Zoe's work always gets me thinking and eager for more.

A native Philadelphian, she's done the majority of her work in Southeastern Pennsylvania, exploring the crevices and burnt alleys Mayor Street would rather forget. It's no surprise then that she made the short trek to Camden, New Jersey, infamous for its second-year standing as "America's Most Dangerous City" per US crime statistics. Keeping in mind the awful rep given to Camden, Strauss leaves us with a beautiful selection of a dying city, reminding us that no matter how frightening the statistics and sirens may be, real people live here.