New Adams Photograph In Yeiser Art Center's 2022 'Art Through the Lens' Show

This year’s Art Through the Lens juried exhibit at the Yeiser Art Center in Paducah, KY marks the third year that a traditional, analogue-created photograph from artist CB Adams has been included. Last year, one of two accepted photographs, “Checkerboards,” was awarded an Honorable Mention.

This year, Nashville-based juror and photographer/artist Carolyn Benedict Fraser chose 52 works for the Art Through the Lens exhibit, including Adams’ “Boyball,” from 598 submissions. Art Through the Lens will be open from Sept. 24 – Nov. 12, 2022 with a closing reception on Nov. 13, 2022 from 1-3 p.m. Yeiser Art Center is located at 200 Broadway, Paducah, KY 42001. Phone: 270.442.2453

“I’m grateful to have been chosen for the third time to be included in this show. Four years ag, one of my photographs made with a toy camera was included. That time, it was gratifying that such a traditional, low-fi photograph could hold its own among the others. Both last year and now, the work has been made with large-format cameras and film, and it’s just as exciting,” Adams said.

Originating in 1975 as the Paducah Summer Festival Photo Competition, Art Through The Lens has grown from a fledgling contest into an international juried exhibition. Over the past 46 years this exhibition has become one of the Mid-South’s most prestigious annual photographic events.

CB Adams Receives Honorable Mention at 2021 Art Through the Lens Exhibition at Yeiser Art Center

UPDATE to October 15, 2021 News:

At the closing reception for the 2021 Art Through the Lens exhibition at the @yeiserartcenter in Paducah, KY. juror Shannon Randol awarded “Checkerboards” by St. Louis area writer/photographer CB with an Honorable Mention. This year's show received 758 entries from 37 U.S. states along with three other countries. Forty-four pieces were juried into the International Exhibition.

Art Through the Lens Show Includes Two Prints by CB Adams

“Checkerboards” 16x20 silver gelatin print from large-format negative by CB Adams. This photograph received Honorable Mention and is for sale. Contact cbadams@qwerkyphotography.

Paducah, KY — Two 16x20 silver gelatin photographs by St. Louis-area writer/photographer CB Adams are featured in the 2021 Art Through the Lens international juried exhibition at the Yeiser Art Center. During the past 45 years, this exhibition has become one of the Mid-South’s most prestigious annual photographic events. This year’s call for entries received a record number of submissions — almost 800 submissions from 37 states and four countries.

Adams’s “Checkerboards” was selected by juror Shannon Randol, an Assistant Professor of Photography at Middle Tennessee State University and Curator for The Baldwin Photographic Gallery. Randol chose “Checkerboards” as one of 44 works from 758 submissions. The Yeiser Art Center staff juried 52 pieces into the Regional Salon and chose Adams’s “Pedal Another Cause.” Both framed (20x24) photographs are for sale through the gallery. This year’s exhibition marks the second time Adams has had work selected in this annual show. One of his toy camera-rendered photographs as selected in the 2019 Art Through the Lens.

Art Through the Lens is open Oct. 2 through Nov. 13 with a closing reception on Nov. 14 from 1-3 p.m. Yeiser Art Center is located at 200 Broadway St., Paducah, KY, 42001.

CB Adams, MFA, is an award-winning fiction writer and fine art photographer based in the Greater St. Louis area. Adams works with a collection of more than 60 film-based and digital cameras in a wide range of formats from 4x5 to 35mm and toy cameras to create images. Through his Qwerky Studio, Adams has had works accepted to more than 30 nationwide exhibitions, including “summertime” at A Smith Gallery, Johnson City, TX, “Krappy Kamera” at Soho Photo Gallery in New York City, “American Conversations at Art Saint Louis, “Architectonic” at The Foundry Art Centre, St. Charles, MO, RAW: St. Louis Presents Grandeur, ”Visions” at Sacramento Fine Arts Center, Sacramento, CA, “Somerville Toy Camera Show (2016, 2018 & 2019) in Boston, MA, and “Comestibles” at Columbia (MO) Art League. Recently, his photographs have been published in december, Midwest Review, Genre Urban Arts 7, Heirlock Literary Magazine and Tiny Seed.

Adams’s fiction has been published in River Styx (twice), Zoetrope All-Story Extra, Elder Mountain: A Journal of Ozarks Studies, Ponder Review, Conclave 2021, Vision Quest, Thoughtful Dog, The Distillery, and elsewhere. Adams is the recipient of the Missouri Arts Council’s highest writing awards, the Writers’ Biennial and Missouri Writing!. The independent weekly Riverfront Times named Adams, “St. Louis’ Most Under-Appreciated Writer.” Follow him at his website www.qwerkyphotography.com or on Instagram @qwerkystudio, Flickr @cbadams2, or Facebook @qwerkyphotography.

“Pedal Another Cause” 16x20 silver gelatin print from large-format negative by CB Adams. Available for purchase through the Yeiser Art Center.

In his artist statement, Adams said, “‘Pedal Another Cause’ and ‘Checkerboards’ were created from scenes rendered with a large-format 4x5 camera in New Orleans and St. Louis, respectively. In 2019, I was in New Orleans for the first time and noticed the mural on my way to the Lower Ninth Ward, and it was too interesting to pass up. I had exposed one sheet when I noticed a bicyclist heading toward me. I wanted to try and add an additional element to this scene. I strive to create images that require more than a passing glance or a swipe on a screen and offer a compelling ambiguity that invites the viewer to add their own experience or story to it. ‘Checkerboards’ is another example of this approach. I constantly seek access to places that are out of the ordinary and have a ‘what is that?’ quality that sets the photographs apart from the flood of images that bombard me -- us -- daily. As I work with each image in a wet darkroom, I discover elements that add complexity to the overall scene -- elements that were in my peripheral, but not conscious, vision.”

Picture credit: Katherine Dean- "plate no.1"

In 2013, Paducah was designated a member of the United Nations Educational, Scientific & Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Creative Cities Network in the area of Crafts & Folk Art. To embrace this international honor and reflect the international growth of the exhibition, the original Paducah Photo has taken on a new name, Art Through the Lens.

Juror Shannon Randol (1979) has served in various capacities in the Society for Photographic Education, most recently as Portfolio Coordinator for the annual conferences between 2009-2015. His work has been featured in national and international exhibitions and he is currently completing a body of work addressing boundaries in public spaces.

Art Through the Lens Show Includes Two Large-Format Photographs by CB Adams

Paducah, KY — Two 16x20 silver gelatin photographs by St. Louis-area writer/photographer CB Adams are featured in the 2021 Art Through the Lens international juried exhibition at the Yeiser Art Center. During the past 45 years, this exhibition has become one of the Mid-South’s most prestigious annual photographic events. This year’s call for entries received a record number of submissions — almost 800 submissions from 37 states and four countries.

Adams’s “Checkerboards” was selected by juror Shannon Randol, an Assistant Professor of Photography at Middle Tennessee State University and Curator for The Baldwin Photographic Gallery. Randol chose “Checkerboards” as one of 44 works from 758 submissions. The Yeiser Art Center staff juried 52 pieces into the Regional Salon and chose Adams’s “Pedal Another Cause.” Both framed (20x24) photographs are for sale through the gallery. This year’s exhibition marks the second time Adams has had work selected in this annual show. One of his toy camera-rendered photographs as selected in the 2019 Art Through the Lens.

Art Through the Lens is open Oct. 2 through Nov. 13 with a closing reception on Nov. 14 from 1-3 p.m. Yeiser Art Center is located at 200 Broadway St., Paducah, KY, 42001.

CB Adams, MFA, is an award-winning fiction writer and fine art photographer based in the Greater St. Louis area. Adams works with a collection of more than 60 film-based and digital cameras in a wide range of formats from 4x5 to 35mm and toy cameras to create images. Through his Qwerky Studio, Adams has had works accepted to more than 30 nationwide exhibitions, including “summertime” at A Smith Gallery, Johnson City, TX, “Krappy Kamera” at Soho Photo Gallery in New York City, “American Conversations at Art Saint Louis, “Architectonic” at The Foundry Art Centre, St. Charles, MO, RAW: St. Louis Presents Grandeur, ”Visions” at Sacramento Fine Arts Center, Sacramento, CA, “Somerville Toy Camera Show (2016, 2018 & 2019) in Boston, MA, and “Comestibles” at Columbia (MO) Art League. Recently, his photographs have been published in december, Midwest Review, Genre Urban Arts 7, Heirlock Literary Magazine and Tiny Seed.

Adams’s fiction has been published in River Styx (twice), Zoetrope All-Story Extra, Elder Mountain: A Journal of Ozarks Studies, Ponder Review, Conclave 2021, Vision Quest, Thoughtful Dog, The Distillery, and elsewhere. Adams is the recipient of the Missouri Arts Council’s highest writing awards, the Writers’ Biennial and Missouri Writing!. The independent weekly Riverfront Times named Adams, “St. Louis’ Most Under-Appreciated Writer.” Follow him at his website www.qwerkyphotography.com or on Instagram @qwerkystudio, Flickr @cbadams2, or Facebook @qwerkyphotography.

“Pedal Another Cause” 16x20 silver gelatin print from large-format negative by CB Adams. Available for purchase through the Yeiser Art Center.

In his artist statement, Adams said, “‘Pedal Another Cause’ and ‘Checkerboards’ were created from scenes rendered with a large-format 4x5 camera in New Orleans and St. Louis, respectively. In 2019, I was in New Orleans for the first time and noticed the mural on my way to the Lower Ninth Ward, and it was too interesting to pass up. I had exposed one sheet when I noticed a bicyclist heading toward me. I wanted to try and add an additional element to this scene. I strive to create images that require more than a passing glance or a swipe on a screen and offer a compelling ambiguity that invites the viewer to add their own experience or story to it. ‘Checkerboards’ is another example of this approach. I constantly seek access to places that are out of the ordinary and have a ‘what is that?’ quality that sets the photographs apart from the flood of images that bombard me -- us -- daily. As I work with each image in a wet darkroom, I discover elements that add complexity to the overall scene -- elements that were in my peripheral, but not conscious, vision.”

Picture credit: Katherine Dean- "plate no.1"

In 2013, Paducah was designated a member of the United Nations Educational, Scientific & Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Creative Cities Network in the area of Crafts & Folk Art. To embrace this international honor and reflect the international growth of the exhibition, the original Paducah Photo has taken on a new name, Art Through the Lens.

Juror Shannon Randol (1979) has served in various capacities in the Society for Photographic Education, most recently as Portfolio Coordinator for the annual conferences between 2009-2015. His work has been featured in national and international exhibitions and he is currently completing a body of work addressing boundaries in public spaces.

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.

*  *   *

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.