I Was Here, Fotofocus Biennial Opening Reception

Emerging and Underrepresented lens based artists representing the diverse mediums of photography, video, performance, collage and mixed media come together to explore the essential act of image-making and storytelling. In our social landscape the phrase “__ was here” is a familiar declaration found in many spaces including walls of public buildings, symbolizing the act of marking one's time and presence in a place. In this current social and political climate in which complicated histories revolving around Black people face the threat of erasure we find that sharing stories through the lens of Black creators and cultural producers to be critical. In this exhibit artists delve into the myriad ways of being and existing in our ever complicated modern society. Through this perspective artists will offer insights on disability, gender and sexual identity, survival, imagination, aging, ancestry, community and more. Taking inspiration from the celebrated photographer, Ming Smith, we aim for the art in this exhibition to evoke her perspective of “celebrating the struggle, the survival and finding grace in it.”

About FotoFocus

Founded in 2010 in Cincinnati, Ohio, FotoFocus is a nonprofit organization created to celebrate and champion photography as the medium of our time through programming that ignites a dialogue between contemporary lens-based art and the history of photography. FotoFocus presents lens-based signature programming including the FotoFocus Biennial, FotoFocus Symposium, FotoFocus Talks Series, and Film and Video programming.