The Lens

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.

Deception and misdirection and falsehoods, oh my. Through October 23, see work from the early 1900s to 2014 that may just make you question everything.

At its inception, photography was a medium that connoted truth: Light reflecting reality onto film and then the page. And long before photographs were manipulated and falsified for nefarious reasons, artists used the medium for deception in a more playful — if still often pointed — way. Which is where we find ourselves at the Clay Street Press exhibition opening... Continue reading “These Photographs are Fake!” On View at Clay Street Press

Much has happened since the spring. With the pandemic preventing the Biennial from proceeding as planned, FotoFocus redirected its funds to support arts organizations of all sizes. Here's a look at how local partners have implemented their emergency grants to support and expand their missions.

In April, ​FotoFocus pledged part of the 2020 FotoFocus Biennial budget to financially support the region’s art community during the coronavirus pandemic. Over 100 Participating Venues and Partners received a total of ​$800,000 in the form of the... Continue reading How the Cincinnati Region Has Used the FotoFocus Emergency Art Grant

At University of Dayton’s Radial Gallery, Nebraska photographer Ella Weber finds meaning in monotony behind a Midwestern deli counter.

Ham. Honestly, it’s not for everyone. But for Nebraska-based artist Ella Weber, it has been an unlikely vehicle for artistic expression. In her ongoing tenure as a deli clerk at a large grocery store chain, Weber has created photographs about that sometimes surreal experience. In her exhibition This Feels Nice, showing at University of Dayton’s Radial Gallery with The Blue House Arts... Continue reading Slice of Life: A Grocery Store Deli Serves as a Fount of High-Art Photography

FotoFocus announces today that in lieu of presenting the fifth FotoFocus Biennial, originally slated for October 2020, it will pledge its Biennial budget to financially support the Greater Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky, Dayton and Columbus, Ohio art communities during the coronavirus pandemic.

FotoFocus will grant an immediate and unrestricted $800,000 to over 100 Participating Venues and Partners that were selected to present as part of the 2020 FotoFocus Biennial. These collaborators work every other year towards making the FotoFocus Biennial a success, including 8 of the regions most prestigious arts venues: Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati Art Museum, Taft Museum of Art, Wave Pool, and... Continue reading FotoFocus Pledges 2020 Biennial Budget to Emergency Art Grant