In a crowded cabin, we used to stare out of the window. Look down. Look into space. Occasionally, we made eye contact. This scene seemed so far back.
With the influx of digital screens, it’s guaranteed any moment of boredom is removed. We are occupied every second. At every opportunity, our eyes are transfixed onto the pulses of our phones. They are so imbedded in our lives it’s hard to imagine a future without them. Our lives are lived through the screen. The reality lives inside the phone.
The phone is not sucking us in. We are willing givers of our soul to the device. This phenomenon is a reflection of our society so reliant on the phone to function. To breathe.
These pictures by artist Antoine Geiger depicts this trend.
It also reminds me of the following pictures by photographer Eric Pickersgill, in which he photographed people going about their daily lives with their phones removed.
Family sitting next to me at Illium café in Troy, NY is so disconnected from one another. Not much talking. Father and two daughters have their own phones out. Mom doesn’t 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.
