Strauss Louw was born in 1992 in South Africa. In 2021, he completed a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Stellenbosch, and currently lives and works in Stellenbosch, South Africa.

Louw’s practice could be described as a visual exploration of desire, environment, the gaze and the photograph as an object to possess. Instinctively capturing his subject in unposed candid moments and working with analogue film photography techniques, Louw enacts a delicacy in both the craftsmanship of his practice, as well as the guileless male figure that emerges through his images.

His desire to photograph is motivated not by its potential for possession but rather as an agent of production. The objectness of the photograph in the world is braced by his understanding of the surface as the site of sensory interplay, either through the intimate tactility of silk and cotton or, through the reflective pane of glass, mirror and gold leaf in which Louw turns the gaze both ways presenting the viewer with their own reflection.

In 2023, Louw opened We are Mirrors, a solo exhibition at WHATIFTHEWORLD in Cape Town, South Africa. Prior to this, Louw presented Showing Skin, at WHATIFTHEWORLD, Cape Town (2022) as well as a body of work titled Bitter-Sweet-Salt at SMAC in Stellenbosch as part of his master’s evaluation.

Notable group shows include: The Phoenix Runway presented at WHATIFTHEWORLD in Cape Town, South Africa (2022), as well as Falling Awake at The FOURTH in Cape Town, South Africa (2021), both curated by RESERVOIR. Additionally, Louw participated in Hot House, curated by Jana Terblanche at Sixty Six in London, UK (2022); Emphatic Whispers at SMITH Studio, Cape Town, South Africa (2019), 2k.2 ’Untitled’ at No End Contemporary in Johannesburg, South Africa (2019) as well as Close Encounters at SMITH Studio in Cape Town (2018). His work has been included in Art Joburg, Investec Cape Town Art Fair, in 2022 and 2023 as well as in Miart, Milan, 2023. Most recently, Louw attended a master printing workshop with Borut Peterlin in Slovenia.