Two CB Adams Color Photographs Juried Into Framation's Beyond the Lens XVIII

CB Adams answered the call for entry for Framations Gallery’s XVIII “Beyond the Lens” all-subject, juried exhibit of photographic works in all disciplines. The juror for this year’s exhibition is Michael C. Daft, who believes “Good images should speak for themselves in their own language.” This is the fourth time Adams has works juried into the annual “Beyond the Lens” exhibition.

Adams works primarily in film-based black and white photography, but his art practice includes a consistent amount of color photography, in both film and digital formats.

Such is the case with the two photographs that Daft chose for this exhibition — “Cottontail,” a 20x020 print made with a 1972 Nikon F2 Photomic, 21mm Nikkkor lens and Cinestill 400D film, and “Barn In Landscape,” a 16x20 print made with a Leica M8 and Summicron 50mm lens.

“Cottontail” by CB Adams. Archival photograph from film negative.

Adams often works with the F2, a camera he acquired used from Creve Coeur Camera while he was in high school. It took him close to a year working in the lumber department of Central Hardware to purchase the used body and a new 85mm Nikkor portrait lens, which he still has as well. “Cottontail” was taken during the 2023 Gay Easter Parade in New Orleans, one of Adams’s top-three favorite cities.

“Barn In Landscape” by CB Adams.

The M8 was Leica’s first digital camera, released in 2006. Adams works with the M8 because its sensor and software were designed to yield a Kodachrome-like image. “Barn In Landscape” is a dreamy, Todd Hido-like image of a Missouri barn on a story day.

'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.”