“It’s a two-hour tour, so it’s a long walk,” says Scott McHenry of his company’s photo tours in Over-the-Rhine. “Every time, something different pops up.”
The founder of
Cincinnati Photo Tours found himself inside a church he’d been curious about during his last tour; one of the brothers happened to be on the sidewalk as his group approached. Another time, he found a group of kids playing volleyball on Race Street, and photographers snapped shots of the children leaping through the sand.
McHenry says interest in his tours is growing thanks to his Facebook presence, which he uses to drive traffic to the main website of his
eponymous photography business. McHenry first grabbed a camera to escape fellow soccer parents at his son’s games (he coached for years), and ended up selling shots of high school athletes to the
Community Press.
During the next nine years, he expanded his skills, joining the Professional Photographers of America and widening his scope to include portraiture as well as weddings. He also has a flair for fine art; you may have seen his works on display at downtown’s
Coffee Emporium during two recent stints as an artist in residence there.
These days, McHenry is leading groups of 5 to 12 people through Over-the-Rhine, Cincinnati’s burgeoning historic district.
He’s also planning a new tour that will transport his students among the various hilltops in the city. “With all the hills surrounding Cincinnati, there are a lot of great photographic viewpoints.”
McHenry says a photo tour he researched while traveling to New York City sparked the idea of offering a similar tour here: “There’s so much interest in Over-the-Rhine with the revitalization of Washington Park.”
By Robin Donovan
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