Photographs give voice to Black Cincinnati in FotoFocus exhibition at Cincinnati Museum Center

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 15, 2024
MEDIA CONTACT: Cody Hefner (513) 608-5777, chefner@cincymuseum.org

Lens of History, curated by Toilynn O'Neal Turner, features over 200 historic and contemporary photogrpahs

CINCINNATI – A new exhibition at Cincinnati Museum Center (CMC) is proving a picture can be worth much more than a thousand words; a picture can hold within it part of a community’s identity.

Curated by Toilynn O’Neal Turner and on display now at Cincinnati Museum Center, Lens of History: A Celebration of People, Spaces and Emotions explores the rich tapestry of Black history in Cincinnati through the lens of Black photographers and community photo collections from the 1800s to the 2000s. The exhibition is part of the 2024 FotoFocus Biennial.

The 2024 FotoFocus Biennial is the largest of its kind in America, featuring 108 projects presented at 87 venues across museums, galleries, universities and public spaces in Greater Cincinnati, Dayton, Columbus and Northern Kentucky.

Lens of History uses over 200 photographs to showcase the often overlooked and sometimes unseen contributions and experiences of Black individuals and communities throughout the city’s history. As urbanization, redlining and rising housing costs have destroyed or diminished places of significance in historically Black neighborhoods, photographs have cemented those people, spaces and emotions that made these places home. Those photographs preserve communities and nourish identities.

Lens of History invites guests to weave their own stories with those of the past and to reflect on stories of Black joy and excellence, struggle and resilience. The vivid, powerful glimpse into the history of Black Cincinnati invites a more inclusive understanding of our city’s past while inspiring essential conversations about its future.

The exhibition features photographs from the collections of CMC alongside those of contemporary artists James Bates II, Ron Blassingame, Jymi Bolden, Ron Clemons, Monsta Dixon, Whitney Dixon, Steven Easley, Butch Gibson, Melvin Grier, Erica Griffin, Robert Harris, Malik Perkins, Larry E. Steele, Lé Thompson, Sylvia Lemon-Woods and Frank D. Young.

Lens of History: A Celebration of People, Spaces and Emotion is open through October 14 at Cincinnati Museum Center.

A generous gift from FotoFocus made this exhibition possible.

Lens of History was curated by Toilynn O’Neal Turner of the Robert O’Neal Multicultural Arts Center (ROMAC) with assistant curator Ryan Leary, a West End community member and in partnership with Arabeth Balasko, Curator of Photographs, Prints and Media at Cincinnati Museum Center. Research assistance was provided by Keloni Key of the West End branch of the Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library.

Lens of History was made possible, in part, by Ohio Humanities and the National Endowment for the Humanities.