It Was Always About the Work: An Evening with Melvin Grier

Melvin Grier joins John Faherty for a conversation about his book, It Was Always About the Work: A Photojournalist's Memoir

In It Was Always About the Work: A Photojournalist's Memoir, award-winning photojournalist Melvin Grier tells the influences and circumstances that led him to tell stories through the camera. Over the last six decades, his work has vividly portrayed community, humanity, irony, fear, war, elegance, art, and most notably, the unexpected. With nearly 100 black-and-white and color photographs included in the book, Grier shares photos from his most famous exhibitions and news stories—images that capture the moment and so much more.

6 pm reception/6:30 pm program
Free & open to the public. Registration recommended

To attend online, register directly via Crowdcast HERE

Copies of the book will be available for sale & signing courtesy of Joseph-Beth Cincinnati

Starting with his early years as a boy growing up in Cincinnati, readers quickly learn about the young man who while in the Air Force won his first photo contest. He came home determined to make a career as a photographer and despite his lack of formal training and experience, within a few years, he secured a job as a photographer for The Cincinnati Post. Nearly 35 years later, his daughter became the second African American photojournalist for The Cincinnati Post, a sad statement on the lack of diversity in the news industry in a city where the population is nearly 50% Black.

Whether covering local events, Cincinnati life, impoverished villages overseas, young future Marines on their way to their first post, or high fashion, Grier's photos are unmistakable and evocative. After the closure of The Cincinnati Post in 2007, Grier continued his career as an independent artist. His work has been featured in exhibitions such as "White People: A Retrospective" and "Clothes Encounters." For the first time, in collaboration with one of his journalist partners, reporter Molly Kavanaugh, Grier shares why it was always about the work.

About the authors:

MELVIN GRIER grew up in the West End neighborhood of Cincinnati and served in the U.S. Air Force. He was a staff photographer at The Cincinnati Post for 33 years. Among his many awards, Melvin was named 1999 Ohio Photographer of the Year by the Queen City Chapter, Society of Professional Journalists, and was inducted into its Greater Cincinnati Journalism Hall of Fame. In 2004, he was named the Taft Museum of Art Robert S. Duncanson Artist-in-Residence and inducted into the National Association of Black Journalists Cincinnati Chapter Hall of Fame. Melvin has also exhibited his photographs at the Cincinnati Art Museum, Kennedy Heights Arts Center, and Arts Consortium of Cincinnati. Grier, a lifelong resident of Cincinnati, lives in South Avondale with his wife Brenda.

MOLLY KAVANAUGH is a Cincinnati native and graduate of Ohio University’s College of Communication. She was a reporter at The Cincinnati Post for 10 years and worked on many assignments with Melvin Grier. In 1990, she and reporter Randy Ludlow won the Queen City Chapter, Society of Professional Journalists Gerald White Memorial Award for a series of articles exposing favoritism in the Hamilton County Auditor’s office. She ended her newspaper career in Cleveland at The Plain Dealer. Molly is a yoga teacher (RYT 200) with Project Yoga and lives in Silverton with her husband Frank Wiewandt and dog Nico.