Mobile streets
The photograph above was taken before mobile phones were cheap enough for nearly everyone to buy. At this time the calls were expensive and the phones were often carried around as a status symbol. They were too large fit smugly into your pocket.
I’ve always thought of myself as a ‘street photographer’. The street is unpredictable and a unique imprint of the community of an area. It’s a place where you will find intriguing juxtapositions of people and events. Capturing a moment in time on a street can be challenging but it holds many rewards for the photographer.Where I live in Whitechapel the street is like an extension of where you live. Many families live in small overcrowded flats so public spaces become a valuable place to meet people and talk. Often you will just bump into an acquaintance or a friend you’ve not seen for a long time and strike up a conversation. I’ve noticed a change in the dynamics of the street since the invention of mobile phones. Now many people cut themselves off from the engaging environment of the street by holding a conversation on their mobile.
It seems that some people find it difficult to simply walk and enjoy the ever changing vibe of the street. Its as if this very basic human activity of walking has now been invaded by technology. It’s a revolution that has gone almost unnoticed and even though I’m guilty of answering calls on the street I can’t help thinking that the mobile phone has invaded the pleasures of walking.
As mobiles have taken away the pleasures of walks outside our streets, internet has taken away the great talks inside our homes. It will be fair to say that technology has taken away the sunny rainbows in our life replacing it with grey clouds.