Portrait of a Young Photographer: Van Strahl or the brand new wave of Cult Image-Makers

Image courtesy of Van Strahl Studio

Portrait of a Young Photographer: Van Strahl or the brand new wave of Cult Image-Makers 

By Coco Dolle – August, 2025

“I work with all of my idols”,  Van stated throughout our dialog, his voice carrying each enthusiasm and reverence. 

I met Van Strahl not too long ago on the dialogue panel Behind the Lens moderated by Jacob Brown (former editor of NYT Style Magand artistic director at Vogue) at Neuehouse in New York, alongside famend vogue photographer Alexi Hay. During the discuss, Van talked about his love for conventional contact sheets, the play of variations in mild and processing, and the fun of looking for imperfections, then discovering methods to resolve them. It struck me as deeply paying homage to the late 90s and Y2K, the so-called “golden years” of vogue pictures, when uncooked intimacy, on-camera-flash, and anti-glamour aesthetics formed a brand new life-style of inventive expression. I grew to become curious concerning the evolution of his personal visible language.

Image courtesy of Van Strahl Studio

The seeds of Van’s imaginative and prescient have been planted early years in his dwelling, watching a Terry Richardson print in his mother and father’ hallway, and gazing at a self-portrait of David Sorrenti. Throughout his childhood, Van formed his eye via each intimacy and emotional connection. 

Image courtesy of Van Strahl Studio

Wandering the streets of New York, Van picked up his first Leica Minilux at fourteen, after years of experimenting with stop-motion movies on a Kodak point-and-shoot. His initiation into vogue got here early backstage at a Helmut Lang show the place his mother was modeling. By probability, a Vogue editor reached out for his backstage images. He remembers leaving faculty early to complete his edits, his first actual deadline, and a defining second.
 

Image courtesy of Van Strahl Studio

Today, he nonetheless often apprentices underneath modern masters like Inez & Vinoodh, absorbing their craft and sensitivity whereas concurrently constructing his personal group via Instagram and word-of-mouth. Van’s work blends cult nostalgia with a forward-looking edge, carving a spot for himself within the lineage of Mario Sorrenti, Juergen Teller, Terry Richardson, Inez & Vinoodh, and Roversi, the very names that outlined the golden period.

Van Strahl embodies the continuity of vogue’s cult image-makers-next-gen, but rooted in legacy. After the panel, we had a one-on-one dialog: 

CD: What are your prime 5 photographer inspirations ? 

VS: Mario Sorrenti, Juergen Teller, Terry Richardson, Inez & Vinoodh, Paolo Roversi.

CD: Tell me about your connection along with your idols. How does it form your observe and your sensibility ?

VS: Honestly, it’s all due to my upbringing, my dad was a musician and my mother an excellent mannequin. By commerce I had two artist-parents rising up. They have been enormous on artwork and photograph books at dwelling. So my total life has been tremendous curated by way of what I’m into. 

CD: What are your prime 5 music influences when taking pictures in a studio?  

VS: Mazzy Star, The Smiths, Joy Division, The Cure, Sade.

Van Strahl self-portrait, New York, 2025
 

CD: Is the notion of inventive freedom vital if you shoot ? Or do you like to work with an outlined set body of labor ?

VS: It is determined by the mission, as a result of I clearly love full inventive management. But I may also recognize another person’s concepts and assist develop them. 

CD: What do you consider AI generated image-making in vogue ? For occasion, what about that J-Crew advert.

VS: Honestly, I don’t blame them due to the quantity of roadblocks and hoops to leap via so as to obtain one thing so easy. We tend to overcomplicate and overthink all the things these days, to the purpose the place we’re getting in our personal means. No marvel they employed somebody who says “yes” and makes everybody comfortable. People are shedding their job to AI however all of the legendary photographers aren’t. There is a motive for that. 

CD: Would you say you might be an idealist or a realist within the assemble of your image-making ?

VS: In this point in time, you need to be a realist with what sources you might have obtainable. But it’s vital to remain an idealist, as a result of within the inventive world, the sky is the restrict. 

CD: How do you see the subsequent 5 years of your profession ?

VS: Besides from my very own private profession targets, I actually wish to be in a spot the place I could be serving to my different artist buddies, cultivating a group of cool individuals and work alongside them. WM