Out of the Stacks explores how photographs and images are organized and the exceptional narratives and histories that they impart. Using the Lloyd’s collection, artists conducted research and utilized photographs and photographic materials to create new art books. The Lloyd Library and Museum’s collection provided inspiration for the Cincinnati Book Arts Society artists to conceptualize new artistic designs and formats—to exercise artistic freedom to form collages, montages, and sculptures using photographic mediums and resources. Out of the Stacks examines how photo archives are specific to the modern period in human history, and how the proliferation of photography has become a significant reference point to modern art in all mediums.

The Lloyd Library and Museum has a long history of utilizing photographs in the scientific study of mycology through the work of one of its founders, Curtis Gates Lloyd. Photography became an essential tool in his quest to document mycological specimens for scientific study. Lloyd’s pioneering scientific photography forms the majority of the National Fungus Collection held by the United States Department of Agriculture in Washington, D.C. The Lloyd Library is an independent research library devoted to bringing science, art, and history to life serving as an inspiration to scientists, historians, and artists.

Also on view: A Year on the Edge: A photographic narrative of the Edge of Appalachia Preserve
The Lloyd Library partnered with two photographers, TJ Vissing and Rick Conner, to fill their gallery with nature photographs that focus on the Edge of Appalachia preserve in Adams County.