In 1990, the Contemporary Arts Center of Cincinnati became the first art museum in U.S. history to be tried on obscenity charges. Some sexually explicit images by the late photographer Robert Mapplethorpe were part of a traveling exhibition at the Arts Center funded by National Endowment for the Arts. The obscenity vs. art trial ended in acquittal and Mapplethorpe has become emblematic of artistic freedom in the late 20th century. However, as Sooyeon Lee reports, that's just a small segment of the photographer's work.

The current exhibition at the Center for Creative Photography explores Mapplethorpe's most lasting legacy, his portraiture.

The exhibit opened earlier this month and runs through Oct. 4, 2009.