Visions of Nature across Time and Place

Visions of Nature across Time and Place features historical and contemporary photographs of people’s relationship with nature, near and far. The exhibition opens with photography by Lloyd Library co-founder Curtis Gates Lloyd (1859–1926), giving the viewer a rare glimpse of life around the globe and close to home through Lloyd’s artistic eye. Rick Conner’s and TJ Vissing’s contemporary photography of Central Ohio complements Lloyd’s by beautifully documenting nature as it exists today.

Curtis Gates Lloyd traveled the world collecting books and plant specimens. While abroad, Lloyd brought his camera to document plants in their natural habitat and record their uses. His travels included: Samoa, Mexico, Caribbean islands, Italy, and Egypt. When at home, Lloyd photographed life in downtown Cincinnati and at his farm in Crittenden, Kentucky. He often displayed these images in photo albums where he would write about his journeys to share with his family and friends. Now the subject of ethnobotanical scholars, Lloyd’s photographs along with six recently conserved photo albums provide a unique view into the past.

The nature photography of Rick Conner and TJ Vissing showcases images of Central Ohio with scenes from dawn to dusk. Inspired by the work of The Nature Conservancy in Ohio, Conner and Vissing view nature as an incredible force, inviting the viewer to slow down and view life in a different way. Images from these magnificent natural spaces illuminate and record today’s ever changing environments.