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.


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The Allure and Pitfalls of Seeing Photographs, and the World, in Isolation

Posted on August 19, 2020

Political crises are often abstract, even invisible—and thus difficult to record, particularly in a single frame. So how do we, in a state of isolation, move beyond the isolated image to see what's happening?

A friend pointed out recently that the months of isolation have made us not only worried and frustrated but also socially awkward. As we venture out of our pods, we are rusty at communicating, made worse by masks and other safety protocols. You can’t read facial expressions, you don’t know where someone has been, you... Continue reading The Allure and Pitfalls of Seeing Photographs, and the World, in Isolation


Photographs Are the Monuments of Our Online Visual Culture

Posted on July 15, 2020

Originally published on July 11, 2020 by The Art Newspaper, FotoFocus Artistic Director and Curator Kevin Moore asks which photographs will ascend to a more permanent station in today’s social imagination.

Monuments have taken a beating this past week—traditional monuments, that is, statues of what you might call failed white male conquerors, so prevalent in the lingering Confederate South. Shortly after the current occupant of the White House gave a speech at Mount Rushmore on 3 July, protestors in Baltimore pulled down a Christopher Columbus... Continue reading Photographs Are the Monuments of Our Online Visual Culture


Why Some Photographs Transcend the Moment in Which They Were Taken and Transform Movements Into Icons

Posted on June 11, 2020

Originally published on June 11, 2020 by Artnet, FotoFocus Artistic Director and Curator Kevin Moore discusses why certain images stemming from the unrest in the U.S. are sure to be remembered in years to come.

The best historic photographs don’t just document events but carry a residue of the mood. Some even become an emblem of a cause—they become iconic.

Elaine Mayes’s photographs of the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival, for example, taken on assignment for... Continue reading Why Some Photographs Transcend the Moment in Which They Were Taken and Transform Movements Into Icons


As 2019 draws to a close…

Posted on December 3, 2019

Dear Friends,

FotoFocus had a tremendously exciting and successful year in presenting and supporting the region’s finest in lens-based art. As 2019 draws to a close, we want to share highlights from this past year and kick-off the celebration of our 10-year anniversary in 2020. At FotoFocus, we collaborate to present and support photography and lens-based projects that are accessible, enriching, and engaging to a diverse public through our Biennials, Symposiums, Lecture Series, and countless other community building endeavors.

In continued pursuit of our mission, we started the year collaborating with the Contemporary Arts Center, the... Continue reading As 2019 draws to a close…


FotoFocus Partners with Lightborne and the CAC for BLINK AR Experience: Multiverse

Posted on November 1, 2019

FotoFocus, Lightborne Communications, Inc., creators of cutting-edge video content, and the Contemporary Arts Center (CAC) together announce Multiverse, the first Augmented Reality (AR) experience that brings a BLINK projection mapping creation to life in the palm of your hand.

Multiverse in Action at the Contemporary Arts Center

“BLINK is an internationally recognized light, art and projection mapping event that we are thrilled to be a part of, but time and time again we have heard that people were yearning for a way to experience the magic after the event ends,” said Scott Durban, Lightborne’s... Continue reading FotoFocus Partners with Lightborne and the CAC for BLINK AR Experience: Multiverse