'Joy' In the Time of Pandemic - Analog Forever Exhibition Features Portrait by CB Adams

Analog Forever Magazine, an online and print publisher of contemporary analog photography, included Lauren in Autumn by CB Adams in its current exhibition, Joy. The online exhibition showcases 42 images curated by Niniane Kelley, who is a fine art photographer, alternative processes educator, and Analog Forever writer and curator Niniane Kelley.

Lauren In Autumn is a large format portrait made by CB Adams at Qwerky Studio’s Snob Hill location in Greater St. Louis.

According to Analog Forever’s website, “These photographs explore the thing many of us are lacking in today’s world: inspired happiness. The images selected interpret this theme in both traditional and unconventional ways that show you joy is alive and well in the world, despite what the news may tell you. Analog Forever Magazine Writer and Curator,

“Analog Forever’s call for entry sparked something in me, “ says CB Adams, a St. Louis-based writer and fine art photographer. “I was just scrolling through social media when I saw this call for the theme of ‘joy’ and I immediately stopped and thought, ‘I could submit to that!’ I had more than twenty images that I thought fit the theme. You could submit only two, so I finally chose one image made with a Holga toy cameras and one made with a Toyo 45CF large format camera, which is the one Ms. Kelley ultimately chose.”

Analog Forever’s mission is to “…provide a global audience to photographers who use analog processes and techniques for their photographic work by giving them a voice via a biannual print photography journal, online features and interviews, monthly online exhibitions, and a community calendar. Our goal is to highlight the best of the best from the analog industry including artists, projects, galleries, and curators.”

Heirlock Literary Magazine Publishes Fine Art Photograph 'Stille Tag' by CB Adams

“Stille Tag” by CB Adams. Silver gelatin print from 4x5 negative.

The latest issue of Heirlock, a literary journal dedicated to “Publishing the Future of Poetry,” includes a fine art black-and-white photograph made by St. Louis-area writer and photographer CB Adams. For the first issue of its second volume, the editors of Heirlock issued a call for entry for poetry, visual art and short story fiction that broadly interprets the theme of “Home.”

Adams responded to the theme by choosing several images that met his interpretation of the theme. Although Adams’s archive contains tens of thousands of images that he has captured during the past more than 20 years, the editors selected one taken recently, during March of 2020. The image was captured on a 4x5 view camera on film.

“I don’t usually consider my photography — my art making — as therapy, but there was a weekend early in the COVID-19, sheltering-in-place experience when I just had to get out of my house and make some photographs. I didn’t really care what I was going to shoot, I just needed to be active and feel like I was doing something more constructive than sitting around the house and binge watching television,” Adams says.

Adams often shoots in industrial locations throughout St. Louis City. To comply with COVID-19 recommendations, he decided to head west along Highway 70, where he believed he could safely shoot without being around others. He loaded his car with gear and left early on a Sunday morning because he heard a cold front was moving toward St. Louis later in the day.

“The front arrived much earlier than expected. It was a freaky front that started dropping snow within five minutes after I began shooting the first of several scenes that had caught my eye along Highway 70,” he says. “I’m not afraid of weather, but a majority of my cameras are vintage analogue cameras and become fussy, especially in the cold. They are also hard to replace, not to mention expensive if I damage them, so I wasn’t sure how long I could shoot.”

After an hour, the weather intensified and Adams cut short his “photo expedition” and headed home. A few miles later, he spotted a scene that was being transformed by the snowfall. Although he drives a small sedan that doesn’t handle well in snow, he exited and returned on the outer road. Large format photography requires a lengthier set up and composition process than other formats, which was complicated by the still-heavy snowfall he encountered.

“It was dangerous to be on the side of the road with a narrow shoulder, setting up my tripod across from the car as trucks and other vehicles passed by. One gentleman saw my emergency flashers and stopped to help. By the time I clamped the camera onto the tripod, the bellows was covered with snow and I wiped the lens off with my coat sleeve. I couldn’t see through the ground glass in the back of the camera because my breath kept fogging it up. I didn’t want to use my light meter because it dates back to the 1960s. Not only was it the only meter I had brought along, it was also my favorite. I made my best guess for composition and exposure and shot the last two sheets of film,” according to Adams.

The snow-covered Toyo 45CF large format camera Adams used to capture ‘Stille Tag.’

Adams returned home and let his gear — especially his film holders — warm up and dry out. A few weeks later, the best photo he took that day was the one that Heirlock accepted for publication. After scanning the negative, he named the image “Stille Tag,” which means “silent day” in German.

“It reminds me of the almost apocryphal story that Ansel Adams used to tell about the making of one of his most famous photographs, ‘Moonrise Hernandez.’ He was challenged by a lack of time and a light meter and so he did some calculations in his head and make the image. He wanted to take a second, a back up, but the light changed and he was left with the great photo we know today.,” Adams says. “I’m not saying ‘Stille Tag’ is on par with that iconic photo, but at least it shares a similar back story, though I think such moments aren’t uncommon for photographers.”

Heirlock is a thrice-yearly digital magazine that publishes primarily poetry, as well as visual art and short fiction. The magazine was conceived by a small, close-knit team of Northwestern University graduates that are currently based in Chicago. They are all equally passionate about supporting rising creatives and sharing their work with the world. According to the masthead, “The name Heirlock comes from this focus – we hope to publish the future of poetry and to be a buffer zone between the individual starting poet and the ever-expanding universe that is the writing community at large.”

Although Adams is also an active literary fiction writer, he was not familiar with Heirlock before their call for entry. “Of course, I’m pleased to have my photograph published, but that feeling is enhanced because of the quality of Heirlock, especially its design. It’s also interesting to me to see which poem the editors chose to be next to my work — that always makes me see my work from a different perspective.”

Adams is preparing to print in his wet darkroom a limited number of matted gelatin silver prints, 8x10 inches and 16x20 inches of “Stille Tag.” Contact him through his website for pricing information, www. qwerkyphotography.com/about.

Freaks and Beeks Blog – Announcing ‘Hive Minded’ Project by CB Adams

Missouri Beekeepers deserve some attention and respect. I finally found a way to combine three of my loves: writing, photography, and beekeeping. I am announcing “Hive Minded,” my new fine art photography exhibit and book project focused on the work, dedication and activities of Missouri Beekeepers. This is a long-term photography project inspired as much by Missouri Beekeepers as it is by author James Joyce’s statement, “In the particular is contained the universal.”

For Hive Minded, the particular will be Missouri Beekeepers and how they practice the art, science, and husbandry of apiculture. The work that Missouri “Beeks” perform is the same throughout the world. I’m reminded of the three hives on the roof of the sacristy of the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris. They survived the devastating fire last year.

 I’m reminded, too, of 2019 Academy Award documentary nominee Honeyland about the work of Hatidze, a rural beekeeper in the mountains of Macedonia. She practices a near-forgotten type of beekeeping that includes foraging in nearby forests, mountains, and even crevices in abandoned buildings in her village. Her bee yard consists of skeps rather than the wooden box hives used by the rest of us.  

But the basics of her beekeeping are identical to those found throughout Missouri and the rest of the world. She understands the lifecycle of bees, the influence of the local environment, and the importance of maintaining a healthy ecosystem.

Hive Minded will be a photographic documentary of the way we Missourians “do” beekeeping. I am currently actively seeking Missouri Beekeepers to photograph for this project. I want to meet and photograph ALL Missouri Beekeepers, regardless of gender, age, location or skill level. There is no such thing as an “average” beekeeper, so I am open to working with practically anyone, anywhere in the state. If you’ve got a unique story about your beekeeping, even better.

The first step in the project is photographing beekeepers as they work with their bees. There are no costs involved for participants. In fact, participants will receive a print made by me in my traditional darkroom and be allowed access to use the images I make for their own purposes, whether private or commercial (with credit, of course)

When I have built up the portfolio of images, I will create an exhibition that will be available to galleries, museums, and other venues. Concurrently, I will be creating the Hive Minded book with curated and select images for publication.

This is a labor of love. I am pursuing this project and funding it initially by myself. It is not a “for profit” endeavor. I will make the photographs primarily using traditional analogue equipment on silver gelatin film. During each session, I will employ a variety of cameras in multiple formats: 35mm, 120, and 4x5 large format. I will use a mix of black and white and color film.  

For reference, when I shoot color 4x5 negatives, each shot costs several dollars, plus another $20 to process and scan. I’m willing to make this sort of investment because I want to promote importance of beekeeping – more important today than ever. I will initially pay for the costs associated with Hive Minded, including travel, film, equipment, processing, etc. out of my own pocket. I hope to solicit additional support from artistic grants and other type of funding, including a Kickstarter-type fundraiser for the book.

If you are a Missouri beekeeper and would like me to visit you and your hives, please contact me at 314.973.0239 or email me at cbadams@qwerkyphotography.com. I will keep information updated on this blog, Freaks and Beeks, on my website: www.qwerkyphotography under the “Language” section. If you know of someone, please refer them to me.

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I built my first Warre’ hives several years ago with my father.

CB Adams, MFA, is a writer and fine art photographer living in the St. Louis region. He received two of the Missouri Arts Council’s highest writing awards, the Missouri Writers’ Biennial Award in 1995 and the Missouri Writing! Award in 1985.

Adams’s photographs have been exhibited more than 30 shows, including most recently: A Smith Gallery, Johnson City, TX, Soho Photo Gallery in New York City, Yeiser Art Center in Paducah, KY, Lightbox Gallery, Astoria OR, Foundry Art Centre, St. Charles, MO, Art Saint Louis, St. Louis Arists Guild, and Columbia (MO) Art League.

The independent weekly newspaper St. Louis Riverfront Times named Adams “St. Louis’ Most Under-Appreciated Writer.” His short fiction has been published in more than a dozen literary journals, Zoetrope All-Story Extra, River Styx (twice), Elder Mountain: A Journal of Ozarks Studies, Thoughtful Dog, bluntly, The Distillery, Artistic Spirits of the South, and elsewhere. He has published more than 2,000 nonfiction articles in local, regional and national publications. He is a former reporter for the St. Louis Globe-Democrat.