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The Death Of Conversation: I Photograph People Obsessed With Their Smartphones
I don’t have a problem with portable tech specifically, because our devices facilitate our lives, but I believe it is making people seriously dull…
I started to photograph people in company on their phones as there was a certain symmetry to them and it appealed on a visual level, but as I continued I noticed an inherent sadness to the proceedings.
Before mobile phones were invented, people would have had no choice but to interact. However, that is no longer necessary as we can all now “pretend” we are doing something “important” on our devices rather than think of something to say. This is killing conversation. I believe it’s increasing social pain.
Most people used to use cigarettes as a social prop. Admittedly, they’re bad for your health, but at least they didn’t turn people into ‘plugged in’ bores. Together we must be strong and release ourselves from the shackles of smartphones and bring face-to-face chat back!
More info: babycakesromero.com
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BonitaPerez 10 years ago
I was thinking the exact same thing as I scrolled past....and also corrected my posture as well
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SacdDvda 10 years ago
I like Lemming tards, especially the ones with Marine Goop on them. Damn auto-correct.
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GraceInRainbows 10 years ago
We have to be sincere, how many time we look like we are paying attention and we are really thinking in something else?
GuillaumeLombard 10 years ago
Is there any serious study that proves that people are not talking to each other since the use of smartphone?
ShaiaFahrid 10 years ago
I don't know, but being somewhat older, and having lived through the years when conversation was an art, I rarely witness it anymore.
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petrkrejcik 10 years ago
We say that smartphones ruins the conversation. Books are OK? Imagine a book or newspapers instead of a phone. Is there any difference?
GraceInRainbows 10 years ago
This doesn't mean that if you are not paying attention to your cellophone you are going to be paying attention to other or other humans.
babycakesromero (Post author) 10 years ago
True, this is not about cellphones, this is about people not communicating with each other, this is about our detachment & self-absorption
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ElwiraStadnik 10 years ago
Actually he only shows the ugly side of people who use smartphones. The point of view/see depends on what we want to show/see.
KatharineTomlins 10 years ago
When I am looking at my phone I am communicating with people they just aren't sat next to me, they are all over the planet!
McGigi 10 years ago
in fact, you photographed people holding their cellphones. a photo which, afterall, immortalizes just a fraction of a second.
RusuDavid 10 years ago
And in the same fraction so 2 or 3 more people were using their phones at once? I've seen it happen in many places dude, 'tis a bit scary
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zoniekat54 10 years ago
I don't know about the sad part. It is what it is. Somehow, I don't think I'm talking less. And I talk to people all over the world.
JenniferFayrer 10 years ago
It's great you're able to stay in touch with people all over the world. But it's sad that you're sacrificing invaluable f2f communication
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mike atthemike 6 years ago
Ah, the alien's plan to hypnotize humans is working. They will be easily controlled.
GianniCongedi 9 years ago
Subject matter also by the Italian agency Thinko: http://www.thinko.it/blog/uso-eccessivo-smartphone-social-campagna
AndersJanes 9 years ago
I think more and more people are becoming aware of this issue..https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeEdM5tFqYw an amusing video by Ray Gelato !
ShabbirDarbar 9 years ago
Phones have decreased 1-1 communication... People prefer using their phones rather than talking to people sitting next to them...
digitfields 9 years ago
S**t! That's scary! Agree, the dawn of the Smartphone is facilitating our lives. We too need nature, fresh air, human interaction. #nozombie
AndreasMarx 9 years ago
Fantastic, right on. You know, this is exactly what makes good street photography subject rare these days, very little social interaction.
NicolasQuiroz 9 years ago
We look like on the movie 'HER' ... Alone, disconnected from reality! Nice pics of our world!
sally_jobo@hotmail.com 10 years ago
While waiting for the bus to take us to the river we would raft on, no cellphones allowed, so the 20-somethings just sat there,quietly bored
sally_jobo@hotmail.com 10 years ago
While waiting to take a bus to the river we were going to raft on, no cellphones allowed, so the 20-somethings just sat there looking bored.
LauraTripp 10 years ago
You know, one of the earliest lessons my parents ever told me was "Don't talk to strangers."
Alecia Chambers 10 years ago
The author's observation that as we interact with our phones instead of each other, we increase our social pain, spoke the truth to me.
Mike Mayer 10 years ago
Typical examples of cell phone obsession, to the exclusion of everything else. A bad sign of the times...
ShannonHolmes 10 years ago
Nope. We have an "anti-devise" policy during meals in my home and out to eat. Sure we waste some digital time daily - but are not consumed.
BillStreeter 10 years ago
In the past in many of these situations people would have been reading a newspaper or a book. Who chats people up on the train?
ThomasSnograss 10 years ago
Excellent photos and very representative of the diversity of the phone obsessed. PTxS
CharleneLaRue 10 years ago
Phones and computers of any kind are not allowed at any table I am at.
AnnaBadyoczek 10 years ago
It is very sad...I, personally, refuse to use a smartphone. And in my home there are no phones at the dinner table.
SharlaFelkins 10 years ago
I feel the pain in these photos... I very often am left alone while in company. The genie is out of the lamp and won't go back until ready:(
juanitagreenburg 10 years ago
I don't see the article as passing judgment. Only an observation and opinion. Smartphones are quick easy entertainment at your fingertips.
juanitagreenburg 10 years ago
I made a conscious decision that I didn't want to be addicted to my smartphone so I don't use fancy apps or fb. try to live in the moment.
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ErinWilliamsHayes 10 years ago
Wow...All they had to do was turn to the person next to them and have an actual conversation.....
SusanPithie 10 years ago
I think it is the saddest thing ever I love looking people in the eye
JimmySaurage 10 years ago
While some people may lose conversational skills; others enjoy the peace and quiet in public and not have to hear inane, stupid small talk
EbonyPannell 10 years ago
People look at me like I'm crazy when I try to give a simple hello. I just thought they were rude. But this makes more sense.
DonnaCluney 10 years ago
You are absolutely correct. It is turning the world, especially the western nations into a brain dead society.
LisaBailey 10 years ago
It speaks to the isolation that so many live with in our society...very sad
babycakes romero (Post author) 10 years ago
a lot of people asking if these photos were taken with a phone but they were not. All were taken with a camera, don't own a smartphone...
GinnyBlack 10 years ago
No one has a smile on their face! When you converse you usually break out in a smile!
Gary Mertz 10 years ago
I gotta ask. Were these observation captured with a smartphone camera?
10 years ago
There's no context of how long those shown are looking at their phone or for what reason. This illustrates a problem, but it poses another.
RachelHennessy 10 years ago
Eh, just because I am reading on my phone doesn't mean that before my phone I wouldn't of been reading a book and not talking to people.
RussellManning 10 years ago
As a gent of 72 years of age, reared in the pleasures of conversation, I am still amazed at grocery shoppers on phones, blocking aisles.
JacksonSamuels 10 years ago
Just walk around the world. You will see that no one speaks to each other anymore. they do this to AVOID conversations. SAD SAD SAD
DianaMarie 10 years ago
Conversation died when we started listening to radio, watching TV, sending email instead of writing letters or journals. We will adapt.
JasenVinlove 10 years ago
Good thing you got the idea from Zack Arias and his #De_vice series he did some time ago. #copycat
HeidiKleiber 10 years ago
I think that being obsessed with what other people are doing, whether it be using their smart phones or not, is the problem.
JodyLawson 10 years ago
They are addicted to candy crush & Facebook, me too. I'm trying to stop.
DrowningFish 10 years ago
Anybody else notice the women on the 4th to last picture. She looks like she knows one of my dirty secrets.
SharonPeart 10 years ago
I hope some smart phone use is ok.. I'm almost deaf it helps to chat with someone right beside me.. And text sometimes is the best way..
BethanyLowe 10 years ago
It's lonely when you're the one left out of the phone circle while your friends are absorbed in their phones.
Lucia Havrilla Hewitt 10 years ago
I have a love/hate relationship with technology for this very reason! Fantastic capture of arrested development.
Onion Spirit 10 years ago
It's kind of sad how so many people are so obsessed with their phones!
Jean-Pierre FAVRE 10 years ago
Nous faut-il décréter la "Journée des relations humaines" pour nous souvenir comment ont vécu nos ancêtres jusque dans les 90's?
Jean-PierreFAVRE 10 years ago
Nous faut-il décréter la "Journée des relations humaines" pour nous souvenir comment ont vécu nos ancêtres jusque dans les 90's?
ColleenNordahl 10 years ago
People are isolating themselves. We are social beings and it is part of our makeup. Soon people will not know how to communicate verbally.
TonyHiggins 10 years ago
I see this everywhere. Even my wife does this and it sucks. I try to be close to her but that phone is always in my way
Andrea Salter 10 years ago
No phone usage in the house from 4-9 with our family. I want my boys to know how to tall to ppl. This is sad and depresses me.
ShirGallardo 10 years ago
https://www.facebook.com/8fact/photos/a.121125554748254.1073741828.120709694789840/297984523729022/?type=1&theater
JeannetteCona-Larock 10 years ago
We have a no phone rule at the dinner table and when we go out to eat. Our teens are used to it and we love the time to talk.
AaronSmith 10 years ago
I interact with people this way whether I have a phone in my hand or not.
JennKanze-Eaton 10 years ago
If I picked up a book and just started reading while out with friends or family it would be considered rude, but somehow this is fine.
Ropeyrhyme Letts 10 years ago
I linked a rhyme to this site written after seeing your great pictures. May I use the one of two people sitting in a restaurant?
MichaelVink 10 years ago
Similarly, a new psychological condition called liftophonia where cannot stop themselves from tapping a phone every time they're in a Lift
RopeyrhymeLetts 10 years ago
As we fly in ever decreasing circles we now live lives in metaphorical plug holes draining away our humanity. Great work
BobbiCraig 10 years ago
These are snap shots. When my husband and I are on our phones,we share with each other things we find interesting.We're still communicating.
Pete Denahy 10 years ago
I wrote a song about this very thing.......... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGVa1mS4IbU
PeteDenahy 10 years ago
I wrote a song about this very thing........... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGVa1mS4IbU
QuentinMacdonald 10 years ago
I see old couples sit in restaurants silent for hours, with no cellphones. Boring people will always be boring, no phone will change me.
JaimeKaiden 10 years ago
Is it just me that can see that a lot of these photos were staged or they asked them to pose still? Because I can't see them not noticing...
SteveHobson 10 years ago
I agree, it does seem boring, although what can we say about people (myself included) who take pictures of such people?!
DonnaSheffield 10 years ago
I was at the ontario museum in Toronto in July. Here is all this glorious history all around, and all,I saw was pictures of people that
JeremyDykes 10 years ago
How 'bout photographing people being judgmental @$$#0les about other people minding their own business?
TexHouston 10 years ago
My friends and I have a tradition now... Whomever answers, plays with, or touches their phone during dinners, pays for dinner.
Virginia78704 10 years ago
I am only on my phone at home when I am alone. If someone wants my company, I will absolutely give 'em my attention. So call me. ;-)
LindaStepp 10 years ago
Here's a thought; replace the image of the phone with a book. Does that make you feel better?
FilipVanHoute 10 years ago
I also wrote a post about it. It's going to be part of a series. You can find it here: http://goo.gl/7M1QWP
ClarenceBoudreau 10 years ago
Excellent topic and very good photography. I like the black & white retro perspective.
MarkGlomski 10 years ago
Using smartphone at a dining table is just rude. Otherwise its just like reading a newspaper.
MaxineBaggott 10 years ago
One of the saddest scenes I saw was a toddler chatting away to mum and immediately her phone rang he stopped mid-sentence.
WinstonLake 10 years ago
The phone isn't the problem. It's the person using it. People make choices about who to talk to, phones don't.
LauraComfort 10 years ago
Those people not on their phones look so sad. No wonder I'm a loner these days. When everyone else is plugged in, what's left but to think?
JohnD'Isselt 10 years ago
It seems a bit presumptuous to label someone 'obsessed' with a smartphone because you see them using it.
544723d74526f 10 years ago
I simply have no urge to take my world with me. When I'm out of the house, I am free, no tethers. You Smartphoners are utters tools.
JackieJensen-Cardona 10 years ago
I love having a smart phone in public and not having to interact with people I really do not want to have interaction with
MaxiStewart 10 years ago
I have the same experience too. And I totally hate it. Have seen it our company shuttle, the moment our employees sit, mobile addict go.
SheilaTwombly-Johnson 10 years ago
I think that children are now being ignored by parents always being on their cells. I think its outrageous.
DebbieMason 10 years ago
I think it is so sad that people do not interact anymore. I have been in situations where everyone is on the phone and I just sit there.
ShaniaSanders 10 years ago
I think this is sad. I am sixteen and I don't have a telephone. I use the Internet one hour a day and no television. I am proud of it. :)
Shockmaster 10 years ago
You've basically photographed random people using their phones. Sick of this arbitrary "technology is ruining personal relations" mindset.
LesleyStowell 10 years ago
Smoking is banned in most places, as it is Anti Social, So should phones, and a health hazard to the eyes, and anti social.
MitchHubner 10 years ago
wow that is so stupid that people are focused on a little machine and thats why people kill now a days
LorenzoVitalone 10 years ago
ciao dall'italia :-) https://www.facebook.com/lorenzo.vitalone/media_set?set=a.10152528796678626.1073741837.528118625&type=1
PamSavage-McNett 10 years ago
Profound! I saw myself in these photos. I will never be the same. Thank you.
SobiaIQbal 10 years ago
Totally agree.Hardly see people having one to one chats any longer.They would rather be distracted with theirs phones.Its reality but sad :(
Jaz Ayling 10 years ago
Dear Mr. Photographer, I am curious to know if you yourself conversed with these people you photographed or did you stay behind your camera?
tenjitdevSharma 10 years ago
I think it will be high time, if we do not stop it now... Communication is God's greatest gift, we cannot do away with it like this.
MichaelWorley 10 years ago
People obsessed with people obsessed with their smartphones. It's likely that whatever is on their smartphone is more interesting.
turkeysamwich 10 years ago
I do agree that people are on their phones a bit too much, but there are occasions for down time to check our things.
PietariKruus 10 years ago
Also cause of smartphones we aren't having any breaks in our lifes anymore. Every little moment when our brain needs to rest, we smartphone.
Jordy Jubilance 10 years ago
I wonder if Babycakes used their smartphone to take these pictures.
JohannesdeWilde 10 years ago
The phones facilitate a larger scheme of turning people into spoiled dumbasses who panic everytime something unwanted happens. To controll $
ManuelMaríaLópez 10 years ago
I don´t know. I was watching my cellphone screen meanwhile. Seriously, the pictures are great, they catch the moment but it is not end of w
MaitreyaLaridon 10 years ago
I don't think mindlessly spouting inane small talk, like many people do, is really an improvement over looking at a smartphone, lol.
Peggy Harrison 10 years ago
http://www.bostonmagazine.com/restaurants/blog/2014/10/17/put-away-smartphone-get-free-meal-salvatores/
PeggyHarrison 10 years ago
http://www.bostonmagazine.com/restaurants/blog/2014/10/17/put-away-smartphone-get-free-meal-salvatores/ I wish people put them down
Nikki Sherman 10 years ago
just all these photos look like situations that before smartphones, there would have been a reason to talk to the other people
RehaNayyar 10 years ago
Lets see some hope- in the ninth picture, the couple resting against the tree ,on the side, caught my eye.Isn't that just beautiful!
KhanhNguyenQuoc 10 years ago
I prefer classic old phones than smartphones. Whenever I'm out with friends, we use "mouths" to talk, not "fingers" to touch. haha...
Maria Smink 10 years ago
The human race has forgotten about the right now communication. So worried about what someone might have replied. Live in the moment, FEEL!
Camilo 10 years ago
Use this ... I use it while having dinner with my girlfriend http://bit.ly/1r6HQrw
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TamiSyahida 10 years ago
Yeah. That's true. I experienced that phenomenon this morning. I prefer to play my mobile than chat with people in front of me :D
PatriciaCowling 10 years ago
I think cell phones are vile. I hate them, they are annoying and distracting. They are everywhere and inescapable.
MiriamKrekel 10 years ago
I miss a photograph of parents with their children in the playground. Watching their phone instead of their offspring.
VirginiaRasenbergerSchmidt 10 years ago
Surprised there isn't a pic of me and my ex-boyfriend. He had one of the first cell phones...
Carolyn Edel 10 years ago
So very true! My daughter photoed one from a restaurant and posted it on instagram. The young ladies, 3, very not very amused.
CharmainePhelps 10 years ago
Using phones to avoid interactions with other humans and the environment is perverse and unnatural. It dehumanises and demeans us.
KirstyJones 10 years ago
Well done. I see it everywhere. Its so sad. I find it so boring catching up with some people now as they live on their phone.
Tara Feary 10 years ago
I only do this when i really dislike the person and want to avoid conversations with them, but i think its the height of rudeness otherwise
FaizalKamarudin 10 years ago
I believe whoever read this post rite now r waiting for their meal to be served with another friend on their right, left, front & back side
AdrianRigby 10 years ago
No scientific study needed to prove this theory , look around , try and count how many people you see totally glued to their smartphones .
MichelleFreeman 10 years ago
I photographed 2 weddings and was amazed how many people were on social media and posting pics of the bride and groom without permission.
Susan Adams 10 years ago
You missed one photo out.The mum with pushchair,looking at phone,not interacting with her child.
MelanieDavies 10 years ago
It makes me feel depressed. I gave up carrying a cellphone several years ago when I realised what was happening. Not good
GuadalupeReader 10 years ago
No connection with the moment or with the closes person next to. Are we bored with one self and others?.Self importance or attention deficit
MeganHenderson 10 years ago
'Warm bodies' scene-the zombie thinks, before the plague people talked to each other, the flashback shows people in a mall ALL on phones :/
DianeDrysdale 10 years ago
I agree with you and think it is sad. If I invite friends and family for dinner i ask them to please put their phones away.
KathyDeleon 10 years ago
This is so disturbing, our children are as dumb as a box of rocks now, so now they have no social skills, or conversational abilities.
MyrnaGordon-Covelli 10 years ago
I notice this more and more. Couples don't talk to each other...no laughing... no fun... just texting...
ElwiraStadnik 10 years ago
Actually he only shows the ugly side of using smartphones. The point view depends on what we want to see.
AncaMunteanu 10 years ago
I am looking at my husband while he is scroling down his phone, he has the same look on his face :/
Виктория Димитрова 10 years ago
True! I realised that all we are obsessed ......this summer in a night club......on a party.....all we were in the smartphones....
Katharine Tomlins 10 years ago
When I am looking at my phone I am communicating with people they just aren't sat next to me, they are all over the planet!
Jimmy Jenkins 10 years ago
Have a nice day ya'll! http://pix11.com/2014/04/02/big-apple-shake-potential-for-earthquake-in-new-york-city-exists/
KavishNursoo 10 years ago
accessibility of internet is at hand of everyone nowadays meaning living in a virtual world and letting go the human touch.
clemmykate 10 years ago
Agreed! The next generation, well my generation (yes, im in 8th grade) will have no social skills because we have smart phones used as an ex
Glynis Lailann 10 years ago
With the advent of WiFi hotspots in nearly all public spaces people are becoming more glued to their phones than ever before.
Camilo 10 years ago
Use this ... I use it while having dinner with my girlfriend :) http://bit.ly/1r6HQrw
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Amber Solnick 10 years ago
I had a 10hr class w no phone and I found myself just staring out the window dumb-faced on break because I forgot how to human.
BrunoLeBris 10 years ago
Mobile phone ! The worst "progress" for humanity !! Slave & alone ! Pardon m'y french ! I'm french ! Nice photos !
Ryan Dockery 10 years ago
Wow... This is clearly were the world is headed; however, we can change our bored and lifeless ways!
RyanDockery 10 years ago
Wow... If you look at the expression on some of the faces, it is just depressing and makes an immediate change more necessary!
Nur Afny Syazwany Abu Zarim 10 years ago
Happens everywhere now... people hardly talk to each other now... its sad... I use to be happier hanging out with friends... but not anymore
Camilo 10 years ago
Use this ... I use it while having dinner with my girlfriend http://bit.ly/1r6HQrw
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NicCarpenter 10 years ago
I go mad with my other half when she gets her 'smart' phone out when we are out for a meal!
GoranMarković 10 years ago
I have been to Czech Republic not so long ago, and havent seen any of them being so obsessed. I was feeling so wonderful.
lerbedeknorst 10 years ago
People who are a victim of 'Smartphone Shutout' could do something anti-social to compensate. That'll make for some nice conversation :)
babycakesromero (Post author) 10 years ago
I wish I knew what this meant? Google translate says: "Risk of civilization , the JAFI autism" which sort of doesn't help really...
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BonitaPerez 10 years ago
I was thinking the exact same thing as I scrolled past....and also corrected my posture as well
Load More Replies... SacdDvda 10 years ago
I like Lemming tards, especially the ones with Marine Goop on them. Damn auto-correct.
Load More Replies... GraceInRainbows 10 years ago
We have to be sincere, how many time we look like we are paying attention and we are really thinking in something else?
GuillaumeLombard 10 years ago
Is there any serious study that proves that people are not talking to each other since the use of smartphone?
ShaiaFahrid 10 years ago
I don't know, but being somewhat older, and having lived through the years when conversation was an art, I rarely witness it anymore.
Load More Replies... petrkrejcik 10 years ago
We say that smartphones ruins the conversation. Books are OK? Imagine a book or newspapers instead of a phone. Is there any difference?
GraceInRainbows 10 years ago
This doesn't mean that if you are not paying attention to your cellophone you are going to be paying attention to other or other humans.
babycakesromero (Post author) 10 years ago
True, this is not about cellphones, this is about people not communicating with each other, this is about our detachment & self-absorption
Load More Replies... ElwiraStadnik 10 years ago
Actually he only shows the ugly side of people who use smartphones. The point of view/see depends on what we want to show/see.
KatharineTomlins 10 years ago
When I am looking at my phone I am communicating with people they just aren't sat next to me, they are all over the planet!
McGigi 10 years ago
in fact, you photographed people holding their cellphones. a photo which, afterall, immortalizes just a fraction of a second.
RusuDavid 10 years ago
And in the same fraction so 2 or 3 more people were using their phones at once? I've seen it happen in many places dude, 'tis a bit scary
Load More Replies... zoniekat54 10 years ago
I don't know about the sad part. It is what it is. Somehow, I don't think I'm talking less. And I talk to people all over the world.
JenniferFayrer 10 years ago
It's great you're able to stay in touch with people all over the world. But it's sad that you're sacrificing invaluable f2f communication
Load More Replies... mike atthemike 6 years ago
Ah, the alien's plan to hypnotize humans is working. They will be easily controlled.
GianniCongedi 9 years ago
Subject matter also by the Italian agency Thinko: http://www.thinko.it/blog/uso-eccessivo-smartphone-social-campagna
AndersJanes 9 years ago
I think more and more people are becoming aware of this issue..https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeEdM5tFqYw an amusing video by Ray Gelato !
ShabbirDarbar 9 years ago
Phones have decreased 1-1 communication... People prefer using their phones rather than talking to people sitting next to them...
digitfields 9 years ago
S**t! That's scary! Agree, the dawn of the Smartphone is facilitating our lives. We too need nature, fresh air, human interaction. #nozombie
AndreasMarx 9 years ago
Fantastic, right on. You know, this is exactly what makes good street photography subject rare these days, very little social interaction.
NicolasQuiroz 9 years ago
We look like on the movie 'HER' ... Alone, disconnected from reality! Nice pics of our world!
sally_jobo@hotmail.com 10 years ago
While waiting for the bus to take us to the river we would raft on, no cellphones allowed, so the 20-somethings just sat there,quietly bored
sally_jobo@hotmail.com 10 years ago
While waiting to take a bus to the river we were going to raft on, no cellphones allowed, so the 20-somethings just sat there looking bored.
LauraTripp 10 years ago
You know, one of the earliest lessons my parents ever told me was "Don't talk to strangers."
Alecia Chambers 10 years ago
The author's observation that as we interact with our phones instead of each other, we increase our social pain, spoke the truth to me.
Mike Mayer 10 years ago
Typical examples of cell phone obsession, to the exclusion of everything else. A bad sign of the times...
ShannonHolmes 10 years ago
Nope. We have an "anti-devise" policy during meals in my home and out to eat. Sure we waste some digital time daily - but are not consumed.
BillStreeter 10 years ago
In the past in many of these situations people would have been reading a newspaper or a book. Who chats people up on the train?
ThomasSnograss 10 years ago
Excellent photos and very representative of the diversity of the phone obsessed. PTxS
CharleneLaRue 10 years ago
Phones and computers of any kind are not allowed at any table I am at.
AnnaBadyoczek 10 years ago
It is very sad...I, personally, refuse to use a smartphone. And in my home there are no phones at the dinner table.
SharlaFelkins 10 years ago
I feel the pain in these photos... I very often am left alone while in company. The genie is out of the lamp and won't go back until ready:(
juanitagreenburg 10 years ago
I don't see the article as passing judgment. Only an observation and opinion. Smartphones are quick easy entertainment at your fingertips.
juanitagreenburg 10 years ago
I made a conscious decision that I didn't want to be addicted to my smartphone so I don't use fancy apps or fb. try to live in the moment.
Load More Replies... ErinWilliamsHayes 10 years ago
Wow...All they had to do was turn to the person next to them and have an actual conversation.....
SusanPithie 10 years ago
I think it is the saddest thing ever I love looking people in the eye
JimmySaurage 10 years ago
While some people may lose conversational skills; others enjoy the peace and quiet in public and not have to hear inane, stupid small talk
EbonyPannell 10 years ago
People look at me like I'm crazy when I try to give a simple hello. I just thought they were rude. But this makes more sense.
DonnaCluney 10 years ago
You are absolutely correct. It is turning the world, especially the western nations into a brain dead society.
LisaBailey 10 years ago
It speaks to the isolation that so many live with in our society...very sad
babycakes romero (Post author) 10 years ago
a lot of people asking if these photos were taken with a phone but they were not. All were taken with a camera, don't own a smartphone...
GinnyBlack 10 years ago
No one has a smile on their face! When you converse you usually break out in a smile!
Gary Mertz 10 years ago
I gotta ask. Were these observation captured with a smartphone camera?
10 years ago
There's no context of how long those shown are looking at their phone or for what reason. This illustrates a problem, but it poses another.
RachelHennessy 10 years ago
Eh, just because I am reading on my phone doesn't mean that before my phone I wouldn't of been reading a book and not talking to people.
RussellManning 10 years ago
As a gent of 72 years of age, reared in the pleasures of conversation, I am still amazed at grocery shoppers on phones, blocking aisles.
JacksonSamuels 10 years ago
Just walk around the world. You will see that no one speaks to each other anymore. they do this to AVOID conversations. SAD SAD SAD
DianaMarie 10 years ago
Conversation died when we started listening to radio, watching TV, sending email instead of writing letters or journals. We will adapt.
JasenVinlove 10 years ago
Good thing you got the idea from Zack Arias and his #De_vice series he did some time ago. #copycat
HeidiKleiber 10 years ago
I think that being obsessed with what other people are doing, whether it be using their smart phones or not, is the problem.
JodyLawson 10 years ago
They are addicted to candy crush & Facebook, me too. I'm trying to stop.
DrowningFish 10 years ago
Anybody else notice the women on the 4th to last picture. She looks like she knows one of my dirty secrets.
SharonPeart 10 years ago
I hope some smart phone use is ok.. I'm almost deaf it helps to chat with someone right beside me.. And text sometimes is the best way..
BethanyLowe 10 years ago
It's lonely when you're the one left out of the phone circle while your friends are absorbed in their phones.
Lucia Havrilla Hewitt 10 years ago
I have a love/hate relationship with technology for this very reason! Fantastic capture of arrested development.
Onion Spirit 10 years ago
It's kind of sad how so many people are so obsessed with their phones!
Jean-Pierre FAVRE 10 years ago
Nous faut-il décréter la "Journée des relations humaines" pour nous souvenir comment ont vécu nos ancêtres jusque dans les 90's?
Jean-PierreFAVRE 10 years ago
Nous faut-il décréter la "Journée des relations humaines" pour nous souvenir comment ont vécu nos ancêtres jusque dans les 90's?
ColleenNordahl 10 years ago
People are isolating themselves. We are social beings and it is part of our makeup. Soon people will not know how to communicate verbally.
TonyHiggins 10 years ago
I see this everywhere. Even my wife does this and it sucks. I try to be close to her but that phone is always in my way
Andrea Salter 10 years ago
No phone usage in the house from 4-9 with our family. I want my boys to know how to tall to ppl. This is sad and depresses me.
ShirGallardo 10 years ago
https://www.facebook.com/8fact/photos/a.121125554748254.1073741828.120709694789840/297984523729022/?type=1&theater
JeannetteCona-Larock 10 years ago
We have a no phone rule at the dinner table and when we go out to eat. Our teens are used to it and we love the time to talk.
AaronSmith 10 years ago
I interact with people this way whether I have a phone in my hand or not.
JennKanze-Eaton 10 years ago
If I picked up a book and just started reading while out with friends or family it would be considered rude, but somehow this is fine.
Ropeyrhyme Letts 10 years ago
I linked a rhyme to this site written after seeing your great pictures. May I use the one of two people sitting in a restaurant?
MichaelVink 10 years ago
Similarly, a new psychological condition called liftophonia where cannot stop themselves from tapping a phone every time they're in a Lift
RopeyrhymeLetts 10 years ago
As we fly in ever decreasing circles we now live lives in metaphorical plug holes draining away our humanity. Great work
BobbiCraig 10 years ago
These are snap shots. When my husband and I are on our phones,we share with each other things we find interesting.We're still communicating.
Pete Denahy 10 years ago
I wrote a song about this very thing.......... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGVa1mS4IbU
PeteDenahy 10 years ago
I wrote a song about this very thing........... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGVa1mS4IbU
QuentinMacdonald 10 years ago
I see old couples sit in restaurants silent for hours, with no cellphones. Boring people will always be boring, no phone will change me.
JaimeKaiden 10 years ago
Is it just me that can see that a lot of these photos were staged or they asked them to pose still? Because I can't see them not noticing...
SteveHobson 10 years ago
I agree, it does seem boring, although what can we say about people (myself included) who take pictures of such people?!
DonnaSheffield 10 years ago
I was at the ontario museum in Toronto in July. Here is all this glorious history all around, and all,I saw was pictures of people that
JeremyDykes 10 years ago
How 'bout photographing people being judgmental @$$#0les about other people minding their own business?
TexHouston 10 years ago
My friends and I have a tradition now... Whomever answers, plays with, or touches their phone during dinners, pays for dinner.
Virginia78704 10 years ago
I am only on my phone at home when I am alone. If someone wants my company, I will absolutely give 'em my attention. So call me. ;-)
LindaStepp 10 years ago
Here's a thought; replace the image of the phone with a book. Does that make you feel better?
FilipVanHoute 10 years ago
I also wrote a post about it. It's going to be part of a series. You can find it here: http://goo.gl/7M1QWP
ClarenceBoudreau 10 years ago
Excellent topic and very good photography. I like the black & white retro perspective.
MarkGlomski 10 years ago
Using smartphone at a dining table is just rude. Otherwise its just like reading a newspaper.
MaxineBaggott 10 years ago
One of the saddest scenes I saw was a toddler chatting away to mum and immediately her phone rang he stopped mid-sentence.
WinstonLake 10 years ago
The phone isn't the problem. It's the person using it. People make choices about who to talk to, phones don't.
LauraComfort 10 years ago
Those people not on their phones look so sad. No wonder I'm a loner these days. When everyone else is plugged in, what's left but to think?
JohnD'Isselt 10 years ago
It seems a bit presumptuous to label someone 'obsessed' with a smartphone because you see them using it.
544723d74526f 10 years ago
I simply have no urge to take my world with me. When I'm out of the house, I am free, no tethers. You Smartphoners are utters tools.
JackieJensen-Cardona 10 years ago
I love having a smart phone in public and not having to interact with people I really do not want to have interaction with
MaxiStewart 10 years ago
I have the same experience too. And I totally hate it. Have seen it our company shuttle, the moment our employees sit, mobile addict go.
SheilaTwombly-Johnson 10 years ago
I think that children are now being ignored by parents always being on their cells. I think its outrageous.
DebbieMason 10 years ago
I think it is so sad that people do not interact anymore. I have been in situations where everyone is on the phone and I just sit there.
ShaniaSanders 10 years ago
I think this is sad. I am sixteen and I don't have a telephone. I use the Internet one hour a day and no television. I am proud of it. :)
Shockmaster 10 years ago
You've basically photographed random people using their phones. Sick of this arbitrary "technology is ruining personal relations" mindset.
LesleyStowell 10 years ago
Smoking is banned in most places, as it is Anti Social, So should phones, and a health hazard to the eyes, and anti social.
MitchHubner 10 years ago
wow that is so stupid that people are focused on a little machine and thats why people kill now a days
LorenzoVitalone 10 years ago
ciao dall'italia :-) https://www.facebook.com/lorenzo.vitalone/media_set?set=a.10152528796678626.1073741837.528118625&type=1
PamSavage-McNett 10 years ago
Profound! I saw myself in these photos. I will never be the same. Thank you.
SobiaIQbal 10 years ago
Totally agree.Hardly see people having one to one chats any longer.They would rather be distracted with theirs phones.Its reality but sad :(
Jaz Ayling 10 years ago
Dear Mr. Photographer, I am curious to know if you yourself conversed with these people you photographed or did you stay behind your camera?
tenjitdevSharma 10 years ago
I think it will be high time, if we do not stop it now... Communication is God's greatest gift, we cannot do away with it like this.
MichaelWorley 10 years ago
People obsessed with people obsessed with their smartphones. It's likely that whatever is on their smartphone is more interesting.
turkeysamwich 10 years ago
I do agree that people are on their phones a bit too much, but there are occasions for down time to check our things.
PietariKruus 10 years ago
Also cause of smartphones we aren't having any breaks in our lifes anymore. Every little moment when our brain needs to rest, we smartphone.
Jordy Jubilance 10 years ago
I wonder if Babycakes used their smartphone to take these pictures.
JohannesdeWilde 10 years ago
The phones facilitate a larger scheme of turning people into spoiled dumbasses who panic everytime something unwanted happens. To controll $
ManuelMaríaLópez 10 years ago
I don´t know. I was watching my cellphone screen meanwhile. Seriously, the pictures are great, they catch the moment but it is not end of w
MaitreyaLaridon 10 years ago
I don't think mindlessly spouting inane small talk, like many people do, is really an improvement over looking at a smartphone, lol.
Peggy Harrison 10 years ago
http://www.bostonmagazine.com/restaurants/blog/2014/10/17/put-away-smartphone-get-free-meal-salvatores/
PeggyHarrison 10 years ago
http://www.bostonmagazine.com/restaurants/blog/2014/10/17/put-away-smartphone-get-free-meal-salvatores/ I wish people put them down
Nikki Sherman 10 years ago
just all these photos look like situations that before smartphones, there would have been a reason to talk to the other people
RehaNayyar 10 years ago
Lets see some hope- in the ninth picture, the couple resting against the tree ,on the side, caught my eye.Isn't that just beautiful!
KhanhNguyenQuoc 10 years ago
I prefer classic old phones than smartphones. Whenever I'm out with friends, we use "mouths" to talk, not "fingers" to touch. haha...
Maria Smink 10 years ago
The human race has forgotten about the right now communication. So worried about what someone might have replied. Live in the moment, FEEL!
Camilo 10 years ago
Use this ... I use it while having dinner with my girlfriend http://bit.ly/1r6HQrw
Load More Replies... TamiSyahida 10 years ago
Yeah. That's true. I experienced that phenomenon this morning. I prefer to play my mobile than chat with people in front of me :D
PatriciaCowling 10 years ago
I think cell phones are vile. I hate them, they are annoying and distracting. They are everywhere and inescapable.
MiriamKrekel 10 years ago
I miss a photograph of parents with their children in the playground. Watching their phone instead of their offspring.
VirginiaRasenbergerSchmidt 10 years ago
Surprised there isn't a pic of me and my ex-boyfriend. He had one of the first cell phones...
Carolyn Edel 10 years ago
So very true! My daughter photoed one from a restaurant and posted it on instagram. The young ladies, 3, very not very amused.
CharmainePhelps 10 years ago
Using phones to avoid interactions with other humans and the environment is perverse and unnatural. It dehumanises and demeans us.
KirstyJones 10 years ago
Well done. I see it everywhere. Its so sad. I find it so boring catching up with some people now as they live on their phone.
Tara Feary 10 years ago
I only do this when i really dislike the person and want to avoid conversations with them, but i think its the height of rudeness otherwise
FaizalKamarudin 10 years ago
I believe whoever read this post rite now r waiting for their meal to be served with another friend on their right, left, front & back side
AdrianRigby 10 years ago
No scientific study needed to prove this theory , look around , try and count how many people you see totally glued to their smartphones .
MichelleFreeman 10 years ago
I photographed 2 weddings and was amazed how many people were on social media and posting pics of the bride and groom without permission.
Susan Adams 10 years ago
You missed one photo out.The mum with pushchair,looking at phone,not interacting with her child.
MelanieDavies 10 years ago
It makes me feel depressed. I gave up carrying a cellphone several years ago when I realised what was happening. Not good
GuadalupeReader 10 years ago
No connection with the moment or with the closes person next to. Are we bored with one self and others?.Self importance or attention deficit
MeganHenderson 10 years ago
'Warm bodies' scene-the zombie thinks, before the plague people talked to each other, the flashback shows people in a mall ALL on phones :/
DianeDrysdale 10 years ago
I agree with you and think it is sad. If I invite friends and family for dinner i ask them to please put their phones away.
KathyDeleon 10 years ago
This is so disturbing, our children are as dumb as a box of rocks now, so now they have no social skills, or conversational abilities.
MyrnaGordon-Covelli 10 years ago
I notice this more and more. Couples don't talk to each other...no laughing... no fun... just texting...
ElwiraStadnik 10 years ago
Actually he only shows the ugly side of using smartphones. The point view depends on what we want to see.
AncaMunteanu 10 years ago
I am looking at my husband while he is scroling down his phone, he has the same look on his face :/
Виктория Димитрова 10 years ago
True! I realised that all we are obsessed ......this summer in a night club......on a party.....all we were in the smartphones....
Katharine Tomlins 10 years ago
When I am looking at my phone I am communicating with people they just aren't sat next to me, they are all over the planet!
Jimmy Jenkins 10 years ago
Have a nice day ya'll! http://pix11.com/2014/04/02/big-apple-shake-potential-for-earthquake-in-new-york-city-exists/
KavishNursoo 10 years ago
accessibility of internet is at hand of everyone nowadays meaning living in a virtual world and letting go the human touch.
clemmykate 10 years ago
Agreed! The next generation, well my generation (yes, im in 8th grade) will have no social skills because we have smart phones used as an ex
Glynis Lailann 10 years ago
With the advent of WiFi hotspots in nearly all public spaces people are becoming more glued to their phones than ever before.
Camilo 10 years ago
Use this ... I use it while having dinner with my girlfriend :) http://bit.ly/1r6HQrw
Load More Replies... Amber Solnick 10 years ago
I had a 10hr class w no phone and I found myself just staring out the window dumb-faced on break because I forgot how to human.
BrunoLeBris 10 years ago
Mobile phone ! The worst "progress" for humanity !! Slave & alone ! Pardon m'y french ! I'm french ! Nice photos !
Ryan Dockery 10 years ago
Wow... This is clearly were the world is headed; however, we can change our bored and lifeless ways!
RyanDockery 10 years ago
Wow... If you look at the expression on some of the faces, it is just depressing and makes an immediate change more necessary!
Nur Afny Syazwany Abu Zarim 10 years ago
Happens everywhere now... people hardly talk to each other now... its sad... I use to be happier hanging out with friends... but not anymore
Camilo 10 years ago
Use this ... I use it while having dinner with my girlfriend http://bit.ly/1r6HQrw
Load More Replies... NicCarpenter 10 years ago
I go mad with my other half when she gets her 'smart' phone out when we are out for a meal!
GoranMarković 10 years ago
I have been to Czech Republic not so long ago, and havent seen any of them being so obsessed. I was feeling so wonderful.
lerbedeknorst 10 years ago
People who are a victim of 'Smartphone Shutout' could do something anti-social to compensate. That'll make for some nice conversation :)
babycakesromero (Post author) 10 years ago
I wish I knew what this meant? Google translate says: "Risk of civilization , the JAFI autism" which sort of doesn't help really...
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