The Lens

It is rumored that Mark Twain once said, “When the end of the world comes, I want to be in Cincinnati because it’s always 20 years behind the times.” Inspired by this sentiment, the exhibition explores the regional evolution of both climate and culture from a Midwestern perspective.

Surrounded by fertile land, rivers, and valleys, the greater-Cincinnati area is experiencing climate change at a slower rate than other regions of the United States. The alarm bells are ringing out west, but we can't hear them in Cincinnati.

Caroline Bell and Elisa Fay's photographic work wrestles with the following questions: If... Continue reading When the World Ends, I Want to Be in Cincinnati

The exhibition explores the life and work of activist, entrepreneur, and image creator JP Ball (1825–1904) with a focus on his Cincinnati studio. In dialogue with contemporary photographer Melvin Grier, the exhibition uses Ball's work as a touchstone for a larger conversation about image making, race, class, wealth, and societal change at a formative time in a city that was, at the time, a cultural gateway, spatially, socially, and culturally. The exhibition plumbs the archives to weave a visual narrative centered on this enigmatic daguerreotypist, navigating class and racial divides, whose work had global reach and captured images from forgotten soldiers and... Continue reading James Presley Ball, a Black Daguerreotypist in 19th Century Cincinnati