Photographer Removes Phones From His Images To Show How Addicted Weâve Become (collective-evolution):
Over the past few weeks, Iâve posted a couple of articles relating to our usage, and in many cases dependance, upon technology, particular when it comes to social media. One piece looked at how cliche weâve become in the pictures we post, and the other at how staged and artificially âcoolâ so many of us regularly try to make our lives seem.
According to the Pew Research Center, 65% of American adults use social networking websites, a number that has risen steadily from 7% in 2005 when their research began. The digital pandemic has become so severe that it is almost more common to see a person looking at their phone as you pass them by on the street than it is to actually make eye contact or share a smile with them.
To further portray how significant this physical disconnect has become, photographer Eric Pickersgill has released a series of photos from everyday life with one minor adjustment: all electronic devices have been removed.
The project, which he has titled Removed, was inspired and initiated by an observation he made one morning while sitting in a local café:
Family sitting next to me at Illium cafĂ© in Troy, NY is so disconnected from one another. Not much talking. Father and two daughters have their own phones out. Mom doesnât have one or chooses to leave it put away. She stares out the window, sad and alone in the company of her closest family. Dad looks up every so often to announce some obscure piece of info he found online. Twice he goes on about a large fish that was caught. No one replies. I am saddened by the use of technology for interaction in exchange for not interacting. This has never happened before and I doubt we have scratched the surface of the social impact of this new experience. Mom has her phone out now.
© and source/ rest: collective-evolution (write-up)
© photos and project: ericpickersgill.com
theartofmadeline
jacobvanloon
izzy806
titsay
discoholicmusic
vaporwave
