Ten Years of Mastermind

Back in September 2016, when Mastermind’s founding staff members were hard at work on its debut issue, Barack Obama was still president of the United States, viewers around the world were obsessively watching season one of Stranger Things and a Chinese company called ByteDance launched a version of an app that soon would become TikTok.

Now, one decade and countless videos, streams and political scandals later, Mastermind turns 10. To celebrate, the magazine has planned a series of events over the coming days and weeks. 

First up, on September 22, the magazine will unveil Masterpieces, a six-episode podcast series delving into beloved works of film and television, featuring in-depth interviews with those who created them. In each episode, a guest – season one includes a director, cinematographer, showrunner, set designer, sound designer and actor – discusses the moment that inspiration struck, the setbacks, breakdowns and breakthroughs, and how they reflect on those works today. Released fortnightly, Masterpieces will be available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. 

A few days after the premiere episode, on September 25, Mastermind 20 arrives in stores. Like an unforgettable birthday party, the issue features a fascinating ensemble of intelligent, inspiring, stylish individuals whose stories will keep you entertained for hours, alongside pages of new portrait, landscape and fashion photography. Keep an eye out: the covers will be revealed online later this week.

Then, on October 8, Mastermind presents an exhibition at Paris’s Thaddaeus Ropac gallery, featuring a selection of works from the magazine’s archive. Open to the public for a limited time, the show includes work by photographers Aurelien Chauvaud, Ethan James Green, Jamie Hawkesworth, Julien Martinez Leclerc, Craig McDean, Alasdair McLellan, Stef Mitchell, Collier Schorr, Stephen Shore, David Sims and Raimond Wouda. 

There’s one more surprise in store for readers— but that will be revealed in due course.