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.


Viewing Author: Jacob Drabik
Show All Posts

FotoFocus to Open New Arts Center in Cincinnati

Posted on April 6, 2022

Inaugural FotoFocus Center Marks Major New Chapter for the Nonprofit Dedicated to Championing Photography and Lens-Based Art

FotoFocus, the Cincinnati-based nonprofit organization dedicated to championing photography and lens-based art, today announces its plans to construct and open a new arts center in Cincinnati by 2024. The two-story, 14,700 square feet FotoFocus Center, located at 228 East Liberty Street, will be a world-class venue purpose-built to present a wide range of curated exhibitions, educational events and film screenings each year, furthering FotoFocus’s mission of enriching our understanding of photography.

Continue reading FotoFocus to Open New Arts Center in Cincinnati

Dust to Dust

Posted on December 9, 2021

Tunnelitis, an exhibition of photographs by Raymond Thompson, Jr., at Studeō PAR- uncovers an obfuscated history.

"Overall, it’s kind of a quiet show, if that makes sense," says Jonathan Sears, executive director of PAR-Projects. "There’s a lot of dust in the air — from the pieces. It’s almost cloud-like."

The pieces he's referencing are the photographs by Raymond Thompson, Jr., that make up Studeō PAR-'s current exhibition, Tunnelitis, an examination of the... Continue reading Dust to Dust


FotoFocus Pledges 2020 Biennial Budget to Emergency Art Grant

Posted on April 28, 2020

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


AutoUpdate: Photography in the Electronic Age Speakers and Schedule

Posted on August 1, 2019

The FotoFocus day-long symposium, AutoUpdate: Photography in the Electronic Age held at The Carnegie in Northern Kentucky on Saturday, October 5, will feature lectures and panel discussions from international artists, curators, journalists, and educators. The symposium invites speakers to review photography’s part in the current global crisis of information exchange; the fate of documentary filmmaking in a “post-truth” age; and offers a historical and philosophical assessment of digital imaging, past and future.

Preeminent artist Trevor Paglen will be the keynote speaker, addressing the symposium’s theme of digital technology’s impact on photography and... Continue reading AutoUpdate: Photography in the Electronic Age Speakers and Schedule


FotoFocus Presents: William Wegman

Posted on February 26, 2019

Wednesday, April 17, 2019 at 7:00pm Fath Auditorium, Cincinnati Art Museum 953 Eden Park Drive, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202 Facebook Event for FotoFocus Presents: William Wegman Free and Open to the Public Early arrival is encouraged. Seating is available on a first-come-first-serve basis. Free parking is available. Public Reception A reception and book-signing will be held in the Great Hall immediately following the lecture. About the Artist Almost fifty years into his career, Wegman proves to be a living icon. He has worked with various media throughout his lifetime but continues to draw profound, global attention for his photographic portraits of Weimaraner dogs. Together, he and his dogs have been featured everywhere from the Smithsonian... Continue reading FotoFocus Presents: William Wegman