Craft and Camera: The Art of Nancy Ford Cones

Curated by Pepper Stetler, Associate Professor of Art and Architecture History and Associate Director of the Miami University Humanities Center, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio

For more than forty years, on a small riverside farm in Loveland, Ohio, Nancy Ford Cones (1869–1962) created photographs that earned her a national reputation during a time when female artists continued to struggle for recognition. Despite the praise they received during her lifetime, Cones’ imaginative and exquisitely crafted works were largely forgotten after her death. This exhibition resurrects the gifted artist’s career and contributions to the field of photography.

Between about 1900 and 1939, Cones made thousands of photographs that featured country life, fantastical visions, and literary characters, employing the help of neighbors, friends, and family who posed in costume around the farm and its environs. Working in partnership with her husband, James, who printed her work using a variety of techniques and papers, Cones conceived evocative subjects that emulated 19th-century European paintings. Her images were published in prestigious journals such as Camera Craft, as well as in popular outlets that included National Geographic and Kodak advertisements. The first major presentation of Cones’ work, this exhibition and its accompanying catalogue demonstrate that “the Lady from Loveland” was an exceptional artist who rivaled the top photographers of her time.