Having lived in the Silicon Valley for many years, I have been well aware of the growing use of smartphones in public and private spaces. Nonetheless, when we returned to NYC in the fall of 2019, I was struck by the sheer number of people who were out and about — armed with cellphone in hand. And, like a talisman of sorts, the phone seemed to accompany and facilitate one’s behaviors and actions from the inside out, with little or no obvious connection to surrounding life.
I was intrigued by the various ways in which people on the streets, sidewalks, and parks were using their cellphones; by the way they were seeking and making virtual connections in the midst of a crowd; by the crosscurrents of private life in very public spaces. There were those who were urgently engaging via phone while keeping pace with a throng of pedestrians scurrying along beside them or cutting crosswise in their path, while others sought to stop, separate or remove themselves from the public flow, and focus inward more intently. Whether reaching out to others while moving in the flow, or seeking a stopping place to make connections, those users seemed to be less connected to the here and now, and at times lost in their own world — revealing a glimpse of their emotional life.
By contrast, there were many others who used the phone as a camera, to capture or document one’s presence in a very specific place. Posing for a selfie (or any picture for that matter) one turns outward, trying to present a “best face” rather than a more intimate one. And, not surprisingly, many of those images seem similar to each other, adhering to shared cultural norms of what constitutes fun and amusement, and how we want to be seen by others.
Consistent with these themes, the images that follow are presented in three chapters: