Magenta Pt. III - Stephen Mayes : Restructuring The Photographic Practice

Good friend, mentor, excellent speaker and highly intelligent practitioner and enthusiast of photo, Stephen Mayes gave a lecture on Restructuring the Photographic Practice at the recent Flash Forward Festival. We only realized the last day of the festival that our fancy phones also record, so you'll have to rely on our good ol' note taking, though Stephen was also kind enough to share his notes with us as well!

Since we can't mention everything, we hope to highlight what stood out for us the most.

We are living through a time of extraordinary change...as the Internet develops I think it’s more profound, and maybe we have to look back 600 years to the invention of the printing press to find an equivalent moment. Our relationship to information and knowledge is being transformed in ways that we can still only guess at. This isn’t just about commercial opportunity nor even about social adjustment, it’s a cultural shift. And working with photography, which is so central to contemporary culture, we have a privileged position to participate in the mayhem.

Suffice it to say that we’re in the midst of radical change and the only appropriate response is radical invention.... The opportunities are boundless because we haven’t begun to see the boundaries yet. I can’t pretend to even imagine where we’ll be in ten years time. To be honest I can barely imagine where we’ll be in one year’s time but it’s going to be interesting getting there.

...the competitive environment has shifted, and many of the traditional areas of competition are evaporating, and infinite new fields are opening up with room for everyone.

Must Read: Fred Ritchin's After Photography

We could go on and on, but wanted to leave you with a few key thoughts.

Stephen's optimism and enthusiasm for photo, having been in the industry for many years, keeps us confident and excited for photography's future.

Thank you Stephen!

If you haven't already, check out VII The Magazine - How Photographers See The World