Sunday Profile: Joy Strotz

Incline Village resident and successful photographer turns to family for support and inspiration

If one word could sum up Joy Strotz, it would be bubbly. She speaks with a flurry of hand motions and smiles, energetically bouncing from topic to topic, pausing to remember where she began, and starting the process again.

Her Incline Village home is accented with photographs she has taken of adults, children and scenery. Throughout are scattered remnants from her three sons, including sporting equipment, shoes and musical instruments. It’s a perfect illustration of two of the more important elements of her life: family and photography.

“If you’re not enjoying it, why do it?” she asks, summing up her proactive outlook on life.

Born in Bellefont, Penn. Strotz said the accumulation of her life’s experiences couldn’’t have prepared her better for what she does today.

“If God has a plan for me, he really laid out the steps to help me be successful,” she said.

Her family moved from Bellefont, Penn. to Carbondale, Ill. near Southern Illinois University where she grew up. Her father was a professor at the university. From the beginning, photography was a part of her life. Her brother Ryan had an extensive dark room in the family’s basement and she said she remembers watching him work and develop images.

“I was fascinated by the entire process,” she said.

Photography might be a hereditary gift, she said, as she remembers her mother constantly having a camera in her hand.

“By seemingly accidental genius, she always managed to capture the genuine spirit of people and create some really incredible images,” Strotz said.

But despite these major photographic influences, Strotz didn’’t become a professional photographer until years later.

After high school, Strotz attended the University of Illinois for two years before leaving to pursue a career in modeling. Modeling would not be her permanent vocation, as she became a flight attendant — where she met her husband Eric, a pilot.

“We actually met on a flight together, so we weren’’t working, so it’s not as bad as it seems,” she joked.

While working as a flight attendant, she decided to finish her degree at San Francisco State University where she studied broadcast and electronic communication arts. She enjoyed ad copy writing and directing live television — a position she worked her way into. At first she began as the flower arrangement coordinator and decided to try out for the director’s spot. While she was offered a job at a post-production firm, she decided instead to move to Lake Tahoe with Eric and start a family.

While Eric grew up in the Bay Area and visited Tahoe every summer, Strotz said she only visited a few times.

“I happened to come on one of those rare overcast days when the water looks foreboding and gray,” she said. “I was like ‘are you sure about this?’ But I knew I was going to follow him anywhere.”

The couple was married in 1996 and had their reception in the Snowflake Lodge at Diamond Peak.

Strotz said she finally became interested in professional photography at the urging of her mother-in-law, Marianne.

“She told me that if I didn’t get into photography, I’d be doing a disservice to the world,” Strotz said.

After that, Strotz began taking small portrait jobs and the rest has been a whirlwind, she said.

She shot some graduating Incline High School seniors’ portraits this year. She said while she enjoys photography, she tries to structure her schedule so she has plenty of time for her family.

However, that does not make her any less of a successful photographer as one of her photographs will appear as the cover for the July issue of Pro Photo West — a quarterly magazine for professional photographers in California.

“There’s no active Professional Photographers Association group in Nevada, so I joined the closest organization,” she said. “After all, the border is only 5 miles away.”

Strotz also enjoys cooking and singing as creative outlets. She participates in the Saturday night folk mass at St. Patrick’s Episcopal Church, which her husband organizes. She is also involved with TOCCATA and will perform with the group this summer.

In the end, Strotz said she is always trying to be involved in her sons’ lives.

“I always try to be here for homework time and I get to most of their games,” she said. “We have a great family and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”