Ayup! Welcome to a brand-new series of conversations with photographers of the Fediverse. Folks who I’ve bumped into and admire over on Mastodon. People who lean into decentralised social media and those who don’t habitually follow a traditional path.
First up, we’ve got Steven Lawson, the guy behind an incredibly popular Monochrome March event. Based in Glasgow, Stevens’ work and presence on Mastodon have been a huge inspiration in recent years.
Monochrome March was a much-needed community concept. I think it’s fair to say that it way surpassed all of our expectations. The rules were simple:
- Post a monochrome image.
- It had to have been taken in March 2026.
- Include the hashtag #MonochromeMarch.
- Include a note to say if you’re happy for it to be included in a zine.
The demand and involvement from photographers across Mastodon and Pixelfed resulted in not one, not two, but three e-zines at the end. Nice work, Steven! Here with the man himself, we talk creative avenues, collections, gear and social media.
/POTF001.
Hi Steven. Thanks for joining me on the blog. Let’s start with who you are and how you got into photography.
Hello Mike, I’m a retired national newspaper journalist, having worked first as a reporter, news editor, then a sub-editor and finally a production editor for a little over 40 years. I took early retirement at 60 and now fill my time with photography, conservation work, fly fishing, cooking, painting and travelling when I can.
I have taken photographs since I was a teenager – back then it was with film cameras, of course, and I learned the basics from an old Kodak photography guidebook. Photography took a bit of a back seat in the earlier part of my career when I was more focused on words, not pictures, but as I got older I began picking up my camera again for pleasure.
In the last 15 years, roughly coinciding with the age of digital photography, it has become my main passion.
A lot of your work is wonderfully abstract, while plenty of shots are calming, quiet observations. Is it important that you have different creative avenues to explore?
Thank you for your kind words and you’re quite correct, I am very much drawn to abstract scenes, as I am in my love of painting too. I’m not sure where that comes from – I have no formal art or photography training – but I know it’s something I love deeply. Just the sight of a torn poster on a faded wall can send me off into dreamland!
The advent of digital cameras has meant that being more creative with photography is possible – I would soon be bankrupt if I tried all my Intentional Camera Movement techniques on Kodak Portra 400!
I have tried several creative avenues to satisfy my curiosity, from cyanotypes and gel printing to linocuts, digital art and polaroids; in fact, the walls of my home office/studio are plastered with all manner of prints and paintings.
I find a great deal of pleasure and satisfaction in learning about and trying new techniques. I always return to the camera, though, where I love nothing more than pushing the boundaries where I can, just to see what happens.
You post a lot of images presented as a series or collection. Do you feel this is beneficial for setting the scene and developing the narrative?
Yes, I do, but I also do it because I like to have projects to work on, it helps me to focus my energy and thinking so that I get ‘in the zone’. I also enjoy producing themed zines of my photographic collections – I think I’m up to eight now, with slowly-improving content and design quality.
Have you got any recommended gear, editing software or techniques that you’re particularly enjoying at the moment?
I am not much of a gearhead. I own three digital cameras – a new OM System OM-1 II, with a full range of lenses (my main workhorse), a Fujifilm XE3 with an XF 35mm lens (for street shooting and travel), and an OM System Tough TG-7 field camera (for fun underwater and macro stuff), the latter were both bought secondhand. Together, they cover all the bases for me.
I still own half a dozen film cameras and have a stock of film and instant film in a mini fridge, but I just don’t use them any more. As for editing, I try to keep it minimal: I mostly edit on my iPad Air with an Apple Pencil, using the Photomator app. I have an ancient iMac on which I also use Affinity Photo (plus Publisher, for designing printed and digital zines).
For me, when it comes to editing less is more – I try to get what I need as much as possible in camera, then just add some simple finishing touches in post.
Your recent Monochrome March project was a huge success on Mastodon and the wider Fediverse. How did it feel to bring the photography community together like that?
It was a wonderful experience and we will definitely do it again next year. I did toy with the idea of doing an “Abstract August’ event but they are very time consuming and I have other things going on. Maybe next year?
The way the Mastodon community responded with some remarkable work was inspiring and heart-warming. When it came to producing the e-zines, I was worried that some people might feel left out, so I tried to make it clear that those chosen were my personal favourites, and what do I know?
I think the zines worked out well and I really enjoyed the process of curating and producing them. A big thanks goes out here to fellow photographer and all-round good guy Ewen Bell for his invaluable suggestions on design – he’s a top bloke.
Already looking forward to the next one! Have you got any other personal or community projects in the pipeline?
I’ve had a couple of ideas bubbling under for the early part of this year, one on abstract river and light theme, and the other a black and white project focusing on the Japanese term ‘Komorebi’ which essentially describes that lovely dappled light you get when sunlight is filtered through trees. Either of those projects may end up being in a zine. We shall see.
Let’s talk Mastodon. How long have you been active on the Fediverse, and what are your thoughts on the benefits of algorithm-free and billionaire-free social media?
I joined during the great Twitter exodus in November 2023, I think. Initially I found it all a little confusing but quickly learned that with the Fediverse in general, what you put in is what you get out.
There’s no algorithm, which is great, but it means you have to make the effort to get seen and heard, and that’s as it should be.
It means posting consistently and of a sufficiently high quality, but I’m OK with that and think it’s much healthier than having some faceless tech guy telling me what I should see then feeding me gazillions of adverts to boost his mega-fortune. Mastodon is the only place I use, apart from Flickr (which I use more as a portfolio/archive).
The folks at mastoart.social seem like good eggs. How’s life on their server? Would you recommend it for photographers?
It has been a good home so far, with like-minded, artistically-inclined folk, there’s a nice, friendly vibe and I try to be supportive of others in return.
I think it’s important, if you can afford it, to make at least a small financial contribution towards the running cost of whichever instance you are on, but also not to feel bad if you can’t. I highly recommend mastoart.social for photographers and other creatives, anyway.
Zooming out a little, what are your thoughts on mainstream social media channels for photographers right now?
I think that’s an individual decision for people to make based on what they need and are prepared to put up with. Personally, I couldn’t bear to use the likes of Instagram, I have a strong aversion to Facebook (I only visit it to keep in touch with the conservation group I am a member of) and both X and, what’s the other one, Blue Sky or something? Nah, not for me, but fill your boots if you must. I’m happy with just Mastodon as my outlet.
Lastly, if any fellow photographers are reading this and thinking of trying out Mastodon, what three tips would you give them?
Ooh, right, here goes:
- Do your research first. Check out the @FediTips@social.growyourown.services account where there are some wonderfully helpful resources offering practical advice on how to quickly settle in to the Fediverse.
- Remember that with no algorithm to serve up your daily diet of posts, you have to make the effort to not only post yourself, but to follow and engage with people – that’s what fills your timeline with interesting posts. If you see something you like or agree with, like it and boost it – that’s how posts become ‘viral’ on the Fediverse, not because some anonymous tech bro thinks it should. It’s democratic, and that’s a good thing.
- This tip is aimed specifically at photographers – when posting photos, ALWAYS include Alt-text with your image. It’s not only a useful way of saying more interesting things about the photograph, it also means that people with sight difficulties can use screen readers to read your descriptions of what’s going on in the photo. With hashtags, don’t post dozens as if you were still on Instagram, just four or five carefully-chosen hashtags will suffice.
Thanks so much to Steven for taking the time to participate in my first interview. Inspiring, insightful and maybe, just maybe, further proof that you really don’t need to be on Instagram as a photographer.
Links? Yes please! You can find Steven Lawson Photography over on Mastodon and Flickr. I can highly recommend checking out some of his incredible work. Nice one, Steven!