The Lens

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

FotoFocus is happy to share the region's venues seeking artist submissions for their individual exhibitions. Each Venue listed has determined the specifics for their open call and is fully in charge of the selection process. FotoFocus will not influence or participate in the selection process for these exhibitions. 

CLOSED

Robin Imaging Services & The Mohawk GalleryOpen Call: closed February 10, 2020Lens-based artists are invited to submit work that responds to Light, Time, and The Ever-Changing Perspective, exhibiting how photographers... Continue reading CALL TO ARTISTS: Region’s Venues Seek Artist Submissions

Last week, three artists from the exhibition “Past as Present: Capturing and Archiving the Female Experience” headlined its opening reception. The event offered the pleasures one would expect from a FotoFocus-affiliated production: astonishing art, tasty refreshments, and a lively panel discussion featuring the artists themselves. But there was one twist. The event didn’t occur at the Contemporary Arts Center or a similar venue. Instead, it took place in the heart of the University of Cincinnati’s Clifton campus, at the DAAP Reed Gallery. FotoFocus has cultivated a rich relationship with higher education, even if that relationship sometimes gets overlooked. “Consistently, since the first Biennial in 2012,”... Continue reading FotoFocus Goes to College, or: Building Engagement with Photography by Collaborating With Higher Ed