About the Collection

The FotoFocus Photobook Collection is stewarded by the Cincinnati Art Museum’s curator of photography and housed in the Mary R. Schiff Library. This growing, open-access collection aims to inspire photographers, students of photography and fans of the medium by placing diverse, noteworthy new titles alongside acknowledged touchstones of the photobook genre.

From the early days of the medium to the present, books have been a key form photographers use to communicate, convey their artistic intentions, and influence the culture of photography. Today—in part due to technologies that make it possible to self-publish at a sophisticated level—photographers around the globe are revisiting fundamentals such as layout, sequencing, materials, and relationships with the written word and other media. The FotoFocus Photobook Collection represents this creative diversity, from self-published and small press titles to the products of leading imprints like Steidl, MACK, and Aperture.

Generously funded by Thomas R. Schiff, the collection is named to honor another of Schiff’s long-term philanthropic commitments, FotoFocus, with which the museum’s photography program shares a dedication to enrich the photography community in Cincinnati and beyond.

Donations to the collection are gratefully considered; please contact the photography curator via [email protected].

Please note that some materials are accessible by request at the reference desk, and all must remain in the Library.

See current list of titles in the collection