JAMES ADAMS is a Detroit-based multidisciplinary artist working across photography, film, and music. His work explores themes of Black identity, intimacy, memory, and love through portraiture and visual storytelling. Working primarily with film photography, Adams uses a slower and more deliberate process that emphasizes human connection.
His ongoing series, Best Accompanied with Jazz, portrays Black people inside the visual language of 1950s and '60s jazz culture, and was most recently exhibited at Detroit Presents during Season Fair at Michigan Central. His independent work includes I Feel Like I Swallowed the Sun, a collaboration with Genusee that received Marie Claire's Best Innovative Design award, and the self-published photobooks I Don't Exist and Buscándote. His photography has appeared in Vogue, Marie Claire, and Hour Detroit.
Alongside his solo practice, Adams is co-founder of the creative collaboration MONOCHROME RED, directing campaigns and films for Levi's, Porsche, Cadillac, and Martell.
From his studio and darkroom in Detroit’s East Village, Adams continues to build a body of work centered on telling a story of the human experience through his lens.
email: info@jamesadams.studio
ig: @jamesada.ms / @jamesadams.studio