Famous US photographer leaves stage mid-lecture in China after audience stares at their phones

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Famous US photographer walks off stage mid-lecture after audience focuses on phones instead of his talk

On Thursday (19 Sept), world-renowned American photographer Stephen Shore abruptly ended his lecture at the Central Academy of Fine Arts Museum in Beijing, China, after noticing many in the audience were fixated on their phones.

The lecture, titled “Five Experiences That Transformed My Life and How They Motivated Me to Become an Artist,” was being broadcast live when Shore paused to express his disappointment and left the stage.

Photographer expresses disappointment with the audience

Addressing the distracted audience through a live interpreter, he said: “Sorry, let me interrupt and apologise to everyone first, because what I say next may be a little offensive.”

He added: “Since I am talking about the topic of attention now, you should also know that I am talking about attention. Then I think you should understand the importance of attention in daily life.”

However, I find that many of you here today have been looking at your mobile phones from start to end. You came here specifically to listen to this lecture, but you were unable to concentrate. Then how can you even pay attention to the food you eat every day, or the feeling of the sun on your skin?

Shore is known for documenting everyday scenes and objects in the United States. These often banal and unremarkable scenes are transformed into compelling works of art through his unique photographic style.

“We’ll call it a day here,” he concluded, before leaving the stage.

Following Shore’s exit, the host attempted to salvage the situation, telling the audience: “Today’s lecture by Mr Shore conveyed the most important message: Concentrate! Concentrate! Concentrate!”

Audience members were taking down notes on their phones

However, some audience members later explained that they were not distracted but were taking notes on their phones.

One said in the comments section of a post about the incident that he has asked event staff to convey this to Shore.

Another netizen claimed to have shown Shore photos of the audience’s notes. “I took photos and videos of everyone’s notes and showed them to him, and he said he felt much better,” the netizen wrote.

Source: Bard

Meanwhile, a staff member from the co-organising art centre remarked that there should be standards for lecture etiquette.

“If there is any misunderstanding, we will communicate with the artist. Try to make him understand the situation as much as possible,” they stated.

A staff from the Central Academy of Fine Arts Art Museum also responded:

Regarding the situation where some audience members kept looking down at their mobile phones, causing the speaker to interrupt the lecture, we will feedback this to the management. We encourage the audience to pay attention to civilised etiquette.

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