FotoFocus, the largest event of its kind in the United States, returns this fall to Greater Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky, Dayton, Columbus and beyond. The FotoFocus Biennial, which celebrates photography and lens-based art, expands to 108 projects at 87 venues, including 16 first-time presenters, making this the largest program in event history.
Exhibits will launch through September and October, anchored by an opening symposium Sept. 26-28, featuring keynote lectures, conversations, performances, screenings, tours and receptions designed to inspire conversations about the state of the world via photography, film and lens-based art.
All programming for this year’s biennial has been developed with and overseen by the FotoFocus creative team: Katherine Ryckman Siegwarth, executive director; Kevin Moore, artistic director and curator; and Carissa Barnard, director of curatorial strategy.
According to FotoFocus, “the theme of this year’s biennial is ‘backstories,’ referring to past experiences that may have happened out of view or gone unnoticed – histories untold or that have lacked perspective. These stories fill in blanks and reclaim narratives – whether personal, historical or political – providing essential context for art and images.”
“Now in its seventh edition, the Biennial continues to emphasize the importance of the photographic medium in promoting critical dialogue,” Moore said. “Photography has the power to enrich our understanding of the world and these diverse projects use the medium to reveal untold stories, reclaim misinterpreted narratives, and bring us together through storytelling.”
This year’s biennial presents 15 featured projects, including an international touring retrospective, a multi-venue celebration of an artist featuring a new commission, rare and never-before-seen photographic works, new research and insight to expand understandings of artists, and a call-for-entry selection category, along with a wide range of original exhibitions, events and projects.
Following is a sampling of local photographers whose work is part of FotoFocus 2024.
Joshua Berg and Mark Albain: “Digressions”
SITE 1212, Art Academy of Cincinnati, Sept. 27-Oct. 25
Artists and photographers Joshua Berg and Mark Albain both call the Midwest home. “Digressions” weaves through an unspecified space that unfolds through relationships and histories. Anchored in the liminal, the exhibition and corresponding book are structured around recorded conversations between the two artists, as well as friends, family and colleagues. They open up a shoebox of images and recount those moments, placing them within a larger context.
Change and transformation thread the narrative, exploring the boundaries of experience in the Midwest. This loose framework provides an elusive sensation, the closest way to articulate the unspecific feeling of the immediate.
Rachael Banks: “The Trail of the Dead”
Weston Art Gallery, Aronoff Center, Sept. 20-Nov. 3
“The Trail of the Dead” is a visual anthology of life and death in central Kentucky. Photographic imagery and archived media present the intertwined storylines of a family and whitetail deer with shared experiences of trauma, and the landscape understood as home. “The Trail of the Dead” embraces the backstories theme with reliance on visual metaphor. The deer references Banks’ home and family folklore regarding deer as positive omens. The exhibition invites viewers to consider their family history and connection to home and the impact of those who came before them on who they are today.
Madeleine Hordinski: “The Lore of the Pawpaw”
Lloyd Library and Museum, Sept. 27-Nov. 22
“The Lore of the Pawpaw,” a photo essay, examines the history and fascination behind Ohio’s state fruit. The essay looks at one of the earliest and largest pawpaw farms in Ohio, growing on researcher Ron Powell’s farm in Adams County. Included in the exhibition is a selection of Kodak slides of Powell’s trees from his archives. The photo essay also features photographs from the Ohio Pawpaw Festival in Athens, Ohio – the largest celebration of pawpaws in the world, capturing the culture surrounding the fruit.
Jesse Ly: “Memory Fields”
Weston Art Gallery, Aronoff Center, Sept. 20-Nov. 3
Jesse Ly’s practice navigates identity structures through representation and comprehension by considering the transitional qualities of existence found within imagery and their adornments. This is done using processes of sculpture, bookmaking and writing to inform and expand imagery. The photographic piece “what does the willow bring?” directly correlates to a lineage of understanding and ethereal concern. Their late father understood the presence of a willow tree to attract spirits of those who have passed. Now the daunting presence of a strong willow cannot be removed from this context for them. They make them wonder if he is present.
Tina Gutierrez: “Illumination”
Eisele Gallery of Fine Art, Sept. 25-Oct. 19
The solo exhibition “Illumination” features new works within the underwater photography series by Tina Gutierrez. The artist encourages dancers to surrender to the embrace of the water instead of the forces of gravity. The exhibition highlights the talents of the dancers while giving context to the undercurrents of dance culture. These moments can only be seen from beneath the water and are so transient that only the rapid capture of the camera can preserve them. The beauty in the subjects’ movement and their ability to overcome the challenges that the water presents can be attributed to their rigorous training and dance culture.
Asa Featherstone IV: “Another First Impression”
SITE 1212, Art Academy of Cincinnati, Sept. 27-Oct. 25
“Another First Impression” brings to light often-overlooked stories from communities of color in the Midwest and Rust Belt. This exhibition challenges assumptions shaped by limited exposure and extends a welcome mat to connect with familiar and new communities through the eyes of their residents.
Many Black and Brown folks have little record of their history – and therefore their power – where most of it is collected through oral documentation and stories. “Another First Impression” is the companion piece to MIDTONES, a creative platform that produces annual programs supporting Black and Brown visual artists in the Midwest.
Michael Coppage:“Humphrey Gets His Flowers”
SITE 1212, Art Academy of Cincinnati, Sept. 27-Oct. 25
“Humphrey Gets His Flowers” is a combination of archival video, large-scale projection, mixed media collages and photography. Coppage’s art is often about the frameworks of racism – how they operate and their impact on the self, society and contemporary life. He explains, “This particular work is about the fragility of youth and the creation of an imaginary friend who protected me by helping me unburden myself from external pressures I had somehow internalized. Humphrey became the embodiment of how I felt I was perceived during my formative years. As a form of protection for myself, I personified the monster ‘they’ made me feel like. I thought if I became the monster it would give me back control of my own personal narrative.”
Gee Horton: “Chapter 2, A Subtle Farewell to the Inner Child”
Kennedy Heights Arts Center, Sept. 7-Nov. 2
“Chapter 2: A Subtle Farewell to the Inner Child” by Gee Horton explores the complexities of the inner child through personal and collective narratives. Inspired by a transformative pilgrimage to Senegal, the exhibition begins with a “spiritual cowrie shell reading” that leads Horton to confront childhood traumas and seek healing. Featuring photography, collage, mixed media and cyanotypes, Horton’s work delves into memory and identity. The cyanotypes, with their evocative blue tones, symbolize nostalgia and the act of preserving moments. The exhibition also chronicles the parallel journeys of six middle-aged African American men, highlighting themes of resilience, renewal and the exploration of identity.
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