Photo by Jacob Drabik

The Lens

The Lens is the FotoFocus editorial platform, highlighting our programming and featuring in-depth conversations on photography and the moving image drawn from perspectives and insights in our community, throughout our region, and around the globe.


FotoFocus Adds Landscape Photographer Justine Kurland as Keynote Speaker

Posted on September 29, 2017

Kurland, known for portraits of fringe America, will replace Katy Grannan among Second Century symposium’s lineup of featured speakers Cincinnati, OH – FotoFocus’s Second Century: Photography, Feminism, Politics symposium, taking place at Memorial Hall on Saturday, October 7, 2017, has added Justine Kurland as one of its keynote speakers. Kurland is replacing Katy Grannan, who is no longer able to participate due to a physical injury. Born in Warsaw, New York, Kurland is known for her photographs of utopian landscapes and of people who live on the fringes of mainstream America. Following in the photographic lineage of Robert Frank and Sally Mann, Kurland uses the... Continue reading FotoFocus Adds Landscape Photographer Justine Kurland as Keynote Speaker

The Ties That Bind Us: How Photography Unifies the Female Progressive Movement

Posted on September 28, 2017

When you share an image, are you sharing it as a woman? As a person with a disability? What about as a civil rights advocate? Your art is a part of who you are and how you chose to express yourself reflects the sum total of your identity. Intersectionality is a powerful concept. First coined by Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw in the early 1980’s, the framework allows us to explore how our experiences of gender, race, sexual orientation, and disability affect our lives. When we share those experiences, we can’t separate who we are from our circumstance. Our digital and creative world is a complicated... Continue reading The Ties That Bind Us: How Photography Unifies the Female Progressive Movement

Symposium Panel Considers the Common Trope of a Woman with a Camera

Posted on September 20, 2017

What, if anything, does it mean to be a woman photographer? Cincinnati will soon have a chance to explore the topic during the 2:00pm panel of the Second Century: Photography, Feminism, Politics symposium on October 7, 2017 at Memorial Hall. The panel, “Woman with a Camera,” will reconsider the work of historical figures such as Berenice Abbott and Diane Arbus, as well as reflect on the contemporary practice of artists such as Anne Collier and Zoe Leonard, probing the paradoxes of the term “woman photographer”.  With viewpoints from art historians, professors, artists and writers, we will analyze the personal narratives that accompany and complicate the... Continue reading Symposium Panel Considers the Common Trope of a Woman with a Camera

Examining the Complexities of Women’s Film

Posted on September 13, 2017

What defines the term “women’s film”, and what does it look like to explore the complexities and limitations of the category? This topic will be addressed, specifically within the framework of Latin American films made by women in the panel discussion Women of Latin American Film, part of the Second Century: Photography, Feminism, Politics symposium on October 7, 2017. Two aspects of “women’s film” will be explored: the oversimplified terms of the definition itself, i.e., women writing and directing their own stories; and a less obvious subject, the development of an audience which recognizes women’s voices as distinct based on their female authorship. With perspectives from... Continue reading Examining the Complexities of Women’s Film

FotoFocus Expands Second Century Symposium: Katy Grannan, Tabitha Soren, and Aruna D’Souza Complete the Lineup

Posted on September 12, 2017

Cincinnati, OH – FotoFocus is expanding its Second Century: Photography, Feminism, Politics symposium, taking place at Memorial Hall on Saturday, October 7, 2017. Tabitha Soren, a photographer who is featured in numerous publications such as The New Yorker and on the cover of New York Times Magazine, and Katy Grannan, whose photographs are included in the collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art and The Metropolitan Museum of Art among others, will host a keynote conversation discussing their means and methods of representing American life through their work. Prior to the keynote, Aruna D’Souza, writer and critic, will offer a commentary on the... Continue reading FotoFocus Expands Second Century Symposium: Katy Grannan, Tabitha Soren, and Aruna D’Souza Complete the Lineup