eric pickersgill removes smartphones to show our extreme device addiction

eric pickersgill removes smartphones to show our extreme device addiction
images courtesy of eric pickersgill

the series ‘removed’ started at a cafe for photogrpaher eric pickersgill.

‘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.’

‘wendy, brian and kids’

saddened by the experience that was burned into his mind, pickersgill chose to document these everyday moments through photography. ‘removed’ shows couples, families, siblings and individuals looking at what would be a smartphone, but the technology has been taken away. pickersgill asked each subject to hold their stare and posture as he removed the device from their grip, then made each exposure. the resulting images exaggerate the effect — a mother and daughter blankly stare down at missing screens; a couple in bed face in opposite directions, each coddling their removed devices; a newly married couple look down with vacant expressions, rather than each other.

‘tanya and addi’

‘michelle and jimmy’

‘jeff and ty’

‘headon’

‘grant’

‘debbie and kevin’

‘cody and erica’

‘kelly’