An ambitious collaboration between FotoFocus and the region’s museums, galleries, universities, and non-traditional spaces, the FotoFocus Biennial is a month-long celebration of photography and lens-based art that unites artists, curators, and participants from around the world. Now in its seventh iteration, the 2024 FotoFocus Biennial encompasses 107 projects at 86 Participating Venues across Greater Cincinnati, Dayton, Columbus, and Northern Kentucky—the largest of its kind in America. 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, all centered around the theme of backstories. 



The 2024 Biennial theme, backstories, focuses on stories that are not evident at first glance. These stories offer context for what happened previously or out of view, providing narratives not yet told or presented from a new perspective. Yet once told, they shed light on current circumstances and events.