Photographs: Removed

https://www.removed.social/series/

by undefined1 • 8 years ago

83 77 8 years ago

removed.social

habitue• 8 years ago

Aw jeez, this is really depressing

seba_dos1• 8 years ago

How about removing books from photos? ;)

dymk4• 8 years ago

Would you think the same of an art project that removed, say, watches from people's wrists as they check the time? Or maybe hammers from the hands from people working in construction?

rwc• 8 years ago

No, because these things don’t isolate us from each other. You have a number of couples in the photographs that are close physically yet miles and miles apart.

gibolt• 8 years ago

One that removes cars, airplanes, and horses would be great

sand5003• 8 years ago

Would love to see this picture with the phones and cameras removed:

https://artsmetaphor.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Mona-Lis...

swsieber• 8 years ago

I think comparing the watch removal to the phone removal would really drive the point home - I don't think you see a lot of couples checking their watches at the same time.

I think I get the point your making - a phone is a tool, and useful, like watches and hammers. But watches, hammers, and even books aren't designed to make you addicted to them. Lots of things on phones are.

And lots of things on phones aren't... but the most addictive aspects are the most prevalent.

wink• 8 years ago

I don't know, I just can't see this as a meaningful representation. Maybe I'm biased because I don't check my phone all the time - but you could get a snapshot of me in most of these situations. It would just not be an accurate depiction of how I live my life. It's like "hey I have a picture of you washing your hands, how many minutes per day do you spend in front of a sink?".

Sure, everyone who goes to concerts knows those people who film every minute. But if you time it right you'll also see me taking a quick picture, that's a few seconds once or twice on a 3h concert.

ydnaclementine• 8 years ago

Pretty goofy looking without a cellphone

There's one where the phone was covering a lady's face (USA set). I wonder how they did that. Photoshop must be magic

matte_black3• 8 years ago

I’m not sure the phones were “removed” but rather were never actually there.

sand5003• 8 years ago

In his video he approaches people on the street and asks them to pose without the phone.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8TsV3IExYg

patrickbolle• 8 years ago

Off topic: I've never seen this notice on Youtube before:

CGTN is funded in whole or in part by the Chinese government

Screenshot: https://screenshotscdn.firefoxusercontent.com/images/7bd277c...

magic_beans• 8 years ago

In the "about" section it explains that he approaches people who are using their phones, and then asks them to remove the phones and pose as if they were using their phones.

He must have met a ton of people on this project, which is really cool.

32bitkid3• 8 years ago

I get, and appreciate, where I feel the artist is going with this: a reflection on the loneliness epidemic and our relationship to technology. BUT I think one layer of meta out is just as creepy and weirdly out of context once you start erasing things. Namely the picture of the couple in bed is another level of creepy if there is some guy/girl hovering over them staring at them with a digitally-erased camera.

some_not_all• 8 years ago

Congratulations, you've just confronted the suspension of disbelief regarding pornography, such that having a camera in the room somehow renders the act as "not prostitution" by virtue of performers (rather than johns and hookers) "putting on a show."

zacharycohn• 8 years ago

You're uh... aware that the photographer didn't sneak into their room without them knowing, right?

32bitkid3• 8 years ago

I guess what I'm trying to say is which is more depressing or sad: a couple ignoring each other, or a guy watching a couple ignore each other, or even, if I were to turn the lens on myself, a guy watching another guy watching a couple ignore each other.

RcouF1uZ4gsC• 8 years ago

In a lot of these pictures, you could probably substitute a small paperback book. When I was growing up before cellphones, I knew a lot of people who would keep a small book with them that they would read in line or when at a a table.

csours• 8 years ago

I try not to complain about this, but something is super janky with the carousel. It feels like it loads 2 pictures ahead and doesn't let you show the next until the one after that is loaded.

aasasd• 8 years ago

I finally realized that SE Asia just looks like the 70s to me, for some reason. Only with better tech.

(With the exception of Japan and South Korea, of course.)

It's like I still could occasionally catch some Cambodian rock'n'roll around a corner: https://youtube.com/watch?v=i3QPTefh7bQ

minikites• 8 years ago

This is one of those things that seems deep but really isn't, maybe a step above Banksy. I don't mean to imply that there aren't issues with our relationship with technology, but these photos are an awfully ham-fisted criticism. I read this article back when it was published and it's stuck with me because it provides a more nuanced and thoughtful view of our relationship with technology.

https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/07/camp-...

Some people feel something is amiss in their relationships, and that technology is to blame. There's a move, cataloged in nearly every magazine, towards seeing the offline as authentic and the online as hollow, false, unreal. This may be a false distinction, digital dualism, as Nathan Jurgenson calls it, but it's a widespread reaction to the technologies at hand.
The vision promises that if it weren't for all the damn new stuff (like watches), we'd all be sitting around sharing the parts of ourselves that we're ashamed of, supporting others in their most meaningful endeavors, and paying mind only to worthy causes and ideas.
I refuse to accept that the only good response to an imperfect technology is to abandon it. We need more specific criticisms than the ever-present feeling that "'something's not right." What thing? Developing a political agenda to remake, improve, or forbid technologies requires some sort of rubric: how can I judge what I'm using? What are the deleterious impacts? How are they specific to these media and this time? Which effects are caused by the technologies and which are enabled by the technologies and which just happen to occur through the technologies? What are the ethics? What are the mechanics? What is the baseline?

metamet• 8 years ago

My largest criticism of our oneness with phone is that, no matter how responsible you are with them, they removes you from being fully present.

For consumption of media--which most people use it for--it's like sitting down and opening a book or paging through a magazine. When you're with others, it immediately puts you into a private space that your mind is attempting to connect to, disconnecting from the present.

It's counter to mindfulness. Even when you open up your phone for just 10 seconds to check on something, you're distracting yourself from being present--regardless of how responsible you are with it.

That said, I don't have any problems with hanging out with friends or family and reading a book. I've done that my whole life, but it's not appropriate for times when you're trying to actively be there and have a connection with them.

There's little difference between having a friend pull our a book or their phone when trying to watch a movie together, but our phones are so intertwined with who we are, it's easy to not see it that way.

mooreed• 8 years ago

...the moment when you realize you are depressed about the ubiquity of phone addictions whilst on your phone.

ars3• 8 years ago

I wish they weren't black and white, but otherwise they are very interesting to look at.

The black and white takes away a lot of the impact, it's too bad.

NorthOf33rd2• 8 years ago

Why do you say it takes away the impact?

The black and white reads to me as a way to pull out the distractions, to focus only on the form.

ars3• 8 years ago

To me it takes away all the life from the photo, makes everyone look dead.

It's fine for landscapes, but not for people.

It's you've ever seen a dead body, it's very pale, like a black and white photo.

(It's understandable for old photos before color was possible, but there's really no reason to do it today.)

jake-low• 8 years ago

Worth noting that the use of black and white isn't just an Instagram-style filter being applied in Photoshop; the photographer is making these images on black and white film, using a large format camera that's not too different from the ones people were using to take portraits a hundred years ago. You can see a picture of the artist and his camera on this page [0].

[0] https://www.ericpickersgill.com/about-eric-pickersgill-remov...

ars3• 8 years ago

Why do that? There is color large format film.

It's one thing if it made the end result better, but it doesn't.

nickchuck• 8 years ago

Whoa, how did they get a pic of Dave Chappelle!? https://static1.squarespace.com/static/561bb57ae4b0357b729e1...

oh_sigh• 8 years ago

Dave is way more jacked than that these days. He's an absolute tank

jiggliemon• 8 years ago

By the title you’d assume these are candid shots of people in real life situations with the phones digitally removed.

The actual method the photographer used was to stage situations, and acquire models to act out scenarios for maximum effect.

I don’t know how the production of said images will effect the viewer - but I think it’s important to point out - as it does effect the content. This is staged art. This isn’t documentary.

atq21192• 8 years ago

It's affect, not effect, in this case: https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/usage/affect-or-effect

(I'm sorry. My English is far from perfect either, I just really stumbled over this one for some reason.)

theandrewbailey2• 8 years ago

While that situation is often the case, effect is used correctly as a verb in this context. From your link:

When used as a verb effect means ‘to bring something about as a result’. It’s most often used in a formal context as oppose to everyday English:
Growth in the economy can only be effected by stringent economic controls.
The new policies did little to effect change.
The prime minister effected many policy changes.

Edit: there are two places were effect is used as a verb in that comment. I'm referring to the last one.

pelagic_sky• 8 years ago

Thanks, I was looking at the hands and wondering this myself. I would have been a lot more impressed if these were candid shots and then the photographer got images of hands or close likenesses and photographed them in the same positions and then photoshopped them in.

Reedx• 8 years ago

You're right, I misinterpreted it. My mistake, sorry about that. Hopefully a mod can update the title.

Here's the explanation from the photographer on how they were made:

"The large format portraits are of individuals who appear to be holding personal devices although the devices have been physically removed from the sitter’s hand. They are asked to hold their stare and posture as I remove their device and then I make the exposure."

https://www.removed.social/about/

sctb• 8 years ago

Alright, we've updated the title from “Photographer Removes Phones from Photos”.

peapicker• 8 years ago

Looking at these photos makes me realize we have a major body posture problem. No wonder people are having pain in the neck and back a lot!

Also, the physicality of looking down all the time, hunched over, bent neck, is a literal embodiment of the word "downcast" -- and we wonder why depression is at an all time high. We literally practice being downcast all the time.

Looking at this and having these thoughts makes me realize that I need to adjust my phone habits.

crazygringo• 8 years ago

As an artistic statement this just feels... infantile.

Before phones, people were reading books or magazines separately in bed, or reading newspapers on the train. When I traveled to various third-world countries before phones were a thing and people didn't have money for newspapers, people stared blankly out into space on the train or bus or shared van. People weren't social with strangers. In various modern African cities, I just couldn't believe how much boredom was part of everyday life. And there didn't seem to be any redeeming qualities to the boredom... just boring, boring boredom.

Likewise (back in the US), children out at a cafe with the parents would sit drawing or reading children's books or yes, being bored out of their skulls (instead of on a cell phone now with books or games that practice hand-eye coordination). I remember long car trips as a child as excruciatingly, horribly, mind-numbingly boring.

And as for photos showing someone photographing... we've had cameras for many decades... I don't get the point at all.

I'm not even remotely convinced that phones are somehow making us less social. Rather they save us from extreme boredom, keep us in close touch with out intimate friends all day long if we choose, and even make it so much easier to see people and flexibly change plans. Remember when being "stood up" was a thing? In my experience it's... not, anymore. Someone will send you a message an hour beforehand they won't be able to make it, saving you a trip and letting you make new plans if you want.

hopler2• 8 years ago

You seem to be projecting your own feelings onto the pictures.

Do you also find nude photographs infantile?

bradenb• 8 years ago

I feel like the OP was making a totally reasonable argument. Your comment was a huge overreaction.

akx• 8 years ago

people stared blankly out into space on the train or bus or shared van [...] boredom was part of everyday life

I wouldn't necessarily call that boredom, not in all cases anyway. Not having the constant ADHD content/info/distraction feed phones provide can be a boon too.

hopler2• 8 years ago

Title "Removes phones from photos" is a false statement not claimed in the linked site. Mods, please fix.

jancsika• 8 years ago

Intriguing.

Seems like the judgment of "depressing" or "creepy" one puts on these images comes from foreknowledge of what the subjects are reading on those phones.

For example-- is there a popular app that helps citizens effectively organize resistance against a burgeoning fascist government without giving side-channel access for nation-state influencers to easily undo that effort?

If the dad were posting on that and the kid viewing the thread, that would seem pretty cool and important.

But I don't think that app exists, which may be close to the fundamental problem than the hardware itself. In reality the overwhelming likelihood is that whatever the pair are reading is not as valuable as the quality time dad and son are missing out on.

soneca• 8 years ago

An acquaintance of mine became a photographer and also made a collection of people with phones on the streets.

But instead of going for the easy societal critic, he got a more diverse use of phones into his photos.

You can see several occasions where phones were being used as a tool for social, presential, phisycal-world connection between people having a good time.

Worth taking a look:

http://www.thomasfreier.com/fotografia-celular-eles/

keiferski• 8 years ago

I’ve been getting into the habit of turning my phone off, putting it in a drawer, and leaving it there for as much time as possible.

It sounds absurd, but the results have been fantastic and similar to what I’ve experienced from meditation, long-distance running or similar activities. It’s best described as feeling “grounded”, as if I’m actually alive in the world and not just floating from one room to the next. I end up noticing more about my neighborhood as well, especially irrelevant little things like floor tile patterns or differences between plants on the sidewalk.

My best theory on the topic is: if you only speak one language, the vast majority of internet is essentially a fairly small, uniform, static entity. Whether you log on from Tokyo or Toronto, the software is the same - same colors on Google, same design on Facebook, etc. When you unplug, this uniformity largely disappears and you’re forced to really pay attention to the world around you. As a result, the world feels much bigger.

artur_makly• 8 years ago

Someone, please invent an AI that can remove all automobiles from the street.

sneakernets• 8 years ago

Ogg remember when tool didn't exist. People lived in moment. Now Ogg see plow tilling field and just shake head. What happened to working together for betterment of society? Now beast pull plow?

ralusek• 8 years ago

"[Phone/Technology/Social Media/War/Orange Man/Consumerism] Bad" all seem like EXTREMELY tapped markets in the art world. This seems like something a deep middle-schooler would put out, in my opinion.

ElTimuro• 8 years ago

Same works if you remove a spoon and porridge. This is uttlery meaningless even if it were real life. Projecting behavioural triggers on technology is flawed most of the time.

fjp• 8 years ago

reddit.com/r/im14andthisisdeep

Photographs: Removed

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