The photography project “Removed” by Eric Pickersgill illustrates the pervasive impact of technology on human connection and behavior.
The 2015 photo series contains twenty-eight black and white photographs. These photos capture individuals of all ages in various settings looking down at their palms as if using cellphones, but the phones, intentionally, are missing.
The large format portraits are of individuals who appear to be holding personal devices he had physically removed from the sitter’s hand. They were asked to hold their stare and posture as he removed their device and took the picture. The photographs represent reconstructions of scenes he experiences daily.
According to a Consumer Affairs report from December 2023, almost all Americans (97%) own a mobile phone, which translates to 330.8 million people. Each day, Americans spend 4.5 hours on their mobile phones and check their phones 144 times a day. Over half (59.5%) of the world’s internet traffic comes from mobile phones.
When Pickersgill started his “removed” project in 2015, the numbers were less impressive, yet the phenomenon was clear. “The joining of people to devices has been rapid and unalterable,” he says. Despite the obvious benefits that technology brings to society, personal devices are altering behaviors and seamlessly integrating into everyday life, becoming extensions of the body. In his website and many interviews, Eric emphasizes that his goal is not to shame people. “I just want to illustrate this very specific moment in history and do it in a way that communicates an idea.” Eric chose “removed” to describe this sensation. Others call it The Loneliness of Digital Devices or Alone Together.
“Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other” is a book by MIT professor Sherry Turkle, that shows how technology is warping our social lives and our inner ones. Technology has become the architect of our intimacies. Online, we fall prey to the illusion of companionship, but this relentless connection leads to deep solitude. Turkle argues that as technology ramps up, our emotional lives ramp down. Based on hundreds of interviews Alone Together describes changing, unsettling relationships between friends, lovers, and families.
