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.


2021, A Reluctantly Not-Miserable Retrospective

Posted on December 15, 2021

2021 was ... technically a year. Sure, it feels like January became October with a tiny blip of optimism for, like, two weeks in June. But as we look back, we see a whole lot of good stuff that took place throughout the amorphous stretch of time formerly known as a calendar year.

So, here we present: Five things we did that got us through 2021.

We heard from brilliant curators, artists,... Continue reading 2021, A Reluctantly Not-Miserable Retrospective

Curator Kevin Moore Talks Expanding the Canon

Posted on October 8, 2021

Ahead of Lens Mix 7, a conversation about the necessity — and the inherent challenges — in defining and broadening a photographic canon. Catch the full virtual conversation moderated by Kevin Moore with guest curators Andrea Nelson and Lucy Gallun on Saturday, October 9.

“The history of photography is still a relatively new field, and its history is constantly being written and rewritten in relation to the world as it evolves," says FotoFocus Artistic Director and Curator Kevin Moore.

As an art historian, Kevin... Continue reading Curator Kevin Moore Talks Expanding the Canon


Watch Party: Lens Mix

Posted on June 3, 2021

Talk doesn't have to be cheap. For example, these Lens Mix conversations with artists, curators, authors, historians, and more from October 2020 through May 2021.

Created in celebration of FotoFocus's tenth anniversary, Lens Mix was a monthly virtual conversation series connecting speakers from different fields to comment on film, photography, and lens-based art. The free series, moderated by FotoFocus Artistic Director and Curator Kevin Moore, invited speakers to explore each others’ artistic practice and projects through intimate discussions.

Whether your pandemic schedule... Continue reading Watch Party: Lens Mix


Zora J Murff On the Intersections of Art and Blackness in America

Posted on May 4, 2021

Artist Zora J Murff's works are investigations: of history, of systems, and of Black spaces. Read our conversation here, then tune in May 6 to hear his Lens Mix conversation.

An Assistant Professor of Art at the University of Arkansas, Zora J Murff received his MFA from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and holds a BS in Psychology from Iowa State University. Merging his educational experiences, Murff uses his practice to highlight intersections between various social systems and art.

Continue reading Zora J Murff On the Intersections of Art and Blackness in America

Aperture’s Incoming Executive Director Sarah Meister On Reimagining Photography’s History and Future

Posted on May 3, 2021

The outgoing MoMA photography curator talks picking up the invitation to interrogate the historical record, and the importance of asking why, in advance of her May 6 Lens Mix talk.

Right as she takes the helm of Aperture Foundation, longtime MoMA Photography Curator Sarah Meister joins artist Zora J Murff and FotoFocus Artistic Director and Curator Kevin Moore for a (virtual) Lens Mix conversation on May 6.

Here, we discuss what equity looks like in the... Continue reading Aperture’s Incoming Executive Director Sarah Meister On Reimagining Photography’s History and Future