Stephen Mayes is an American photographer. He has worked in the fields of

photography Photography is the visual arts, art, application, and practice of creating images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is empl ...

art Art is a diverse range of cultural activity centered around ''works'' utilizing creative or imaginative talents, which are expected to evoke a worthwhile experience, generally through an expression of emotional power, conceptual ideas, tec ...

, and

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree of accuracy. The word, a noun, applies to the journ ...

since 1987. He was the

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

head of

VII Photo Agency VII Photo Agency is an international photo agency wholly owned and governed by its membership. History The photographer owned agency was originally conceived by Gary Knight (photographer), Gary Knight and John Stanmeyer. They were subsequently j ...

, and secretary of the

World Press Photo World Press Photo Foundation is an independent, non-profit organization based in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Founded in 1955, the organization holds the annual World Press Photo Contest for press photography. Since 2011, World Press Photo has orga ...

Competition.Images of war captured in Tim Hetherington photo exhibition
,

Liverpool Echo The ''Liverpool Echo'' is a newspaper published by Trinity Mirror North West & North Wales – a subsidiary company of Reach plc and is based in St. Paul's Square, Liverpool, England. It is published Monday through Sunday, and is Liverpool's da ...

. Accessed 29 June 2014.Lecture by Stephen Mayes: On Photojournalism Today
,

LensCulture ''LensCulture'' is a photography network and online magazine about contemporary photography in art, media, politics, commerce and popular cultures worldwide. It is based in Amsterdam, Netherlands. ''LensCulture'' sponsors international photograph ...

. Accessed 29 June 2014.

Life and work

Mayes studied at

Lancaster University Lancaster University (officially The University of Lancaster) is a collegiate public university, public research university in Lancaster, Lancashire, England. The university was established in 1964 by royal charter, as one of several new univer ...

.Stephen Mayes
,

LinkedIn LinkedIn () is an American business and employment-oriented Social networking service, social network. It was launched on May 5, 2003 by Reid Hoffman and Eric Ly. Since December 2016, LinkedIn has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft. ...

. Accessed 29 June 2014. He has worked as Editor at Rex Features, 1987–1989; Director of Network Photographers (an independent reportage agency), 1989–1994; creative director for

Getty Images Getty Images Holdings, Inc. (stylized as gettyimages) is a visual media company and supplier of stock images, editorial photography, video, and music for business and consumers, with a library of over 477 million assets. It targets three mark ...

, 1994–1998; CEO of Photonica, USA, 1999–2001; Creative Director for eyestorm.com, 2001–2002; Director of the Image Archive at Art + Commerce, 2003–2007; Non Executive Board Member at

, 2007–2008; Chief Operating Officer (Americas) at Image Source, 2007–2008; Secretary to the International Jury,

Foundation, 2004–2012; CEO at VII Photo, 2008–2013; freelance from 2013 as well as executive director of the Tim Hetherington Trust since 2013. He has also curated photography exhibitions.

Publications

* ''Positive Lives: Responses to HIV.'' London: Network Photographers; Cassell, 1993. . Part of the Cassell AIDS Awareness Series. Edited by Mayes and Lyndall Stein. Mayes also contributes an introduction, "Photographing the Invisible - a Statement of Intent". Includes photographic essays from Denis Doran, John Sturrock, Michael Abrahams, Mike Goldwater, Judah Passow,

Mark Power Mark Power (born 1959) is a British photographer. He is a member of Magnum Photos and Professor of Photography in The Faculty of Arts and Architecture at the University of Brighton.Paul Reas Paul Reas (born 1955) is a British Social documentary photography, social documentary photographer and university lecturer. He is best known for photographing consumerism in Britain in the 1980s and 1990s. Reas has produced the books ''I Can He ...

, Barry Lewis and Christopher Pillitz,

Steve Pyke Steve Pyke MBE (born 1957) is a British photographer living in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Paul Lowe Paul Edward Lowe (born September 27, 1936) is an American former professional football player who was a halfback in the American Football League (AFL), primarily with the Los Angeles / San Diego Chargers. A four-time All-AFL selection and two ...

and Gideon Mendel. Foreword by

Edmund White Edmund Valentine White III (January 13, 1940 – June 3, 2025) was an American novelist, memoirist, playwright, biographer, and essayist. A pioneering figure in LGBTQ and especially gay literature after the Stonewall riots, he wrote with ra ...

. Each chapter also includes a written essay. * ''Critical Mirror: Photojournalism Since the 1950s.'' London:

Thames & Hudson Thames & Hudson (sometimes T&H for brevity) is a publisher of illustrated books in all visually creative categories: art, architecture, design, photography, fashion, film, and the performing arts. It also publishes books on archaeology, history, ...

, 1996. . Edited by Mayes. Introduction by

Richard Avedon Richard Avedon (May 15, 1923 – October 1, 2004) was an American fashion and portrait photographer. He worked for ''Harper's Bazaar'', '' Vogue'' and '' Elle'' specializing in capturing movement in still pictures of fashion, theater and ...

. * ''No Heroes: The Photographs of Roger Hutchings.'' London:

London Institute The University of the Arts London is a public collegiate university in London, England, United Kingdom. It specialises in arts, design, fashion, and the performing arts. The university is a federation of six arts colleges: Camberwell College ...

, 2003. . Mayes contributes an introduction. * ''The Noir A-Z.'' Brooklyn, NY: Mark Batty, 2009. . Mayes contributes an afterword.

References

External links

*
Mayes' profile page at World Press Photo'Q&A: Stephen Mayes on Restoring Relevance to Photo-J Competitions''Photographs Are No Longer Things, They’re Experiences'
by Pete Brook at Wired magazine Living people American photographers Place of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people) {{US-photographer-stub