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 Somerset West, 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. Sensitively capturing his subject in candid or posed moments of intimacy, Louw crafts the male body and precious materials into unique objects using analogue photographic techniques.

His desire to photograph is motivated not by its potential for possession but rather as a way to generate material, continually growing a collection of images to use in his studio practice. The photograph as object is braced by his understanding of its surface as a 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. Before 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: Against the Bias: Unravelling Material Codes (2024) with Reservoir Projects, held at the Mount Nelson Hotel in Cape Town, Significant Other (2024) at WITW x Krone gallery in Tulbagh, 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 (2022, 2023, 2025), as well as in Miart, Milan (2023).