For the duration of October, 107 photographic projects from 86 participating venues have opened across greater Cincinnati, Dayton and Columbus, Ohio, as well as Northern Kentucky

For anyone on the quest for a comprehensive, diverse discourse on the future of photography as an art form, look no further than the 2024 FotoFocus Biennial. Headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio (with participants in Dayton, Columbus, and at Kenyon University, as well as in Northern Kentucky), FotoFocus brings together museums, galleries and non-traditional spaces under one unifying theme that links programming for the month of October (and, in some instances, beyond). Leading regional, national and international photographic talent showcase work in these institutions, and a thought provoking symposium deftly explores the nuance of the theme. Perhaps of greatest importance, all of this is free to explore thanks to the Biennial Passport program, which is underwritten by a handful of donors.

This year marks the seventh iteration of FotoFocus, which was formalized in 2010. “The theme is Backstories. We always try to pick a theme that is intrinsic to photography but also says something about what’s going on in the world,” Kevin Moore, the artistic director and curator of FotoFocus, tells COOL HUNTING. “This theme has to do with the way we parse through information, especially images or anything that’s told to us these days, and the essential nature of backstories to how we understand what’s going on in the world” Moore adds that an expansive idea of what photography is underpins the biennial, as well as “who is involved in it and who it affects.”

“Our mission is to inspire conversation about the world through the art of photography,” Katherine Ryckman Siegwarth, the executive director of FotoFocus, adds. “We are not a technical institute. We are looking at ways to engage and expand our interpretation of the world, have conversations with people, reveal new ideas that we can all better empathize. In the last three years, there has been a greater emphasis on shining a light on the stories in the margins and unwrapping histories that have been left out of the full context. ‘Backstories’ plays into that.”

In many ways, the theme is integral to participation. According to Siegwarth, the declaration of the theme stimulates ideas in regional institutions. It acts as an invitation, and it sets a course. “We’ve seen more people joining the fray, with pop-up spaces or getting spaces,” she continues. “One of the unique things about us is that, while Kevin develops the theme, it is an invitational. We have a lot of relationships with some of the larger cultural institutions. With them, we have conversations to see what projects they might produce or how we can help to place exhibitions—but the majority of our projects are people applying to participate. We have a huge range of thoughts around this one idea.” 

This year, FotoFocus introduced an additional, expansive measure to involve the local community and the midwest as a whole with their first-ever Call for Entry Selection. Housed in the Art Academy of Cincinnati (AAC), a series of exemplary exhibitions—Another First Impression, Digressions, Humphrey Gets His Flowers, Deeply Rooted, Contested Ground and Student Reflections—resulted from the public call. Each was as different—and valuable—as the other.

For Digressions, photographic collaborators Mark Albain and Joshua Berg assembled a selection of moody, evocative images—some in color, others in black and white. Underscoring the assemblage, was a sense of focus derived from a series of conversations they had, recorded, transcribed and edited into a book. They used insights from this to revisit their respective bodies of work. “We were inspired to go back and re-contextualize it,” Berg says, “and think about it from the place where we are now in our life. It was curated in response to the life that we were living.” This process brought clarity to years of imagery.

“This work spans from 2016 to 2024,” Albain adds. “Throughout the conversations we serendipitously pinpointed 2016 as a year for both of us where our photography shifted. Life events happened. It was the starting point where we would go back to.” Their images require pause and reflection. A mattress appears to be something more, a glimpse toward flora stirs feelings.

Beyond the AAC, Cincinnati’s FotoFocus footprint encompasses a powerfully expansive Ansel Adams show at the Cincinnati Art Museum, Memory Fields and Rachael Banks: The Trail of the Dead at Weston Art Gallery, Southern Democratic at The Carnegie, and so many other highlights. Ultimately, the sum of FotoFocus is greater than its parts; it’s not one singularly impressive show, but so many world-class curatorial efforts in concert.

Between Columbus and Kenyon College, a trifecta of venues host Ming Smith solo shows, which paint a dynamic depiction of the fine-art photographer. Smith, the first Black woman photographer acquired by MoMA, grew up in Columbus and her shows at The Wexner Center for the Arts and the Columbus Art Museum demonstrate her immense influence on the art form. The former, Wind Chime, incorporates an astonishing multimedia commission—that incorporates a soundtrack by her son, Mingus Smith. The latter weds two distinct exhibitions, August Moon and the utterly mesmerizing Transcendence. At The Gund at Kenyon College, the final piece of the photographic puzzle sets into place with Jazz Requiem – Notations in Blue. Each exhibition can be savored alone, but the strength of Smith’s work certainly compells one to see them all.

Attending FotoFocus this year provided COOL HUNTING with the opportunity to step into the structure that will become FotoFocus’ permanent home early next year. “Our signature event is a biennial so for many people we are this kind of pop-up,” Siegwarth says. “This space will allow us to engage with the community on a daily basis with year-round programming. It’s a foundational shift. It’s great what we have, and we have wonderful people who attend—but we have a lot of people who attend but do not realize they are attending FotoFocus events. With this next step, we can help people understand to better all the things we do. That’s why the evolution around the FotoFocus Center is so important. We can sustain the conversation.”

The FotoFocus Center will include just shy of 5,000 square feet of gallery space over two floors. It’s expected to host two to four exhibitions per year, and complement the art programming already underway in Cincinnati. The building itself is set to be architecturally significant—and simply beautiful. “We had to think about what the history of the neighborhood was and what the materials here were,” Moore says of the development. “We looked to factory windows and the common building style around here. We even drew parallels to stairwell as the viewfinder of a camera.”

As important as the FotoFocus Center will be, equal importance will continue to be placed on all of their partner venues—like the Contemporary Arts Center (designed by Zaha Hadid). For this biennial, it hosts two of FotoFocus’ strongest highlights: a retrospective dedicated to 25 years of work from pioneering German photographer Barbara Probst, entitled Subjective Evidence, and a mixed-media exhibition exploring the work of American photographer, activist and physician Chip Thomas, entitled Chip Thomas and the Painted Desert Project. Moore meticulously curated both.

Beyond the walls of the Contemporary Arts Center, Thomas will wheat paste a depiction of legendary Cincinnati street artist William Rankins Jr, who has since gone blind. The large-scale will adorn a wall of the local restaurant Ollie’s Trolley, alongside one of Rankins’ own murals which sustained damaged over the years. Though it will be layered with varnish, the very nature of wheat pasting is ephemeral and, as such, the moving tribute will only last so long.

In Miami recently, Moore participated in a panel discussion about biennials taking place all over the country. “What I learned from that conversation is that we at FotoFocus started in much the same way that many biennials start, trying to energize a region and trying to bring arts into the economy,” he says. “There was already a lot of street art in Cincinnati, and sanctioned murals. It’s a city of public art, which speaks to its history. Our biennial is formalizing what has been going on in the city—and with the FotoFocus Center, we are evolving beyond the concept of a biennial.”

“Photography has always been my interest because it speaks to our daily lives,” he adds. “It’s not just something that you see in a museum. It’s on our phones. It’s everywhere. It’s controversial and problematic, in so many ways, as well. If you look to its past, you can see a history of a strong engagement with social impact.” FotoFocus does not ignore the complexities of the medium. Rather, it addresses them, embraces them, and amplifies the importance. With a physical institution on the horizon, it will only grow in importance.