PHIL MAXWELL

Mobile phone in the city around 1989

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 snugly into your pocket.

Conversation on Commercial street, 2006

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. 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.

Mobile texting on Vallance Rd, 2004

Woman with her mobile phone, London c. 1999

Man with a mobile phone, Spitalfields 2010

Man with mobile phone outside Bengal Cuisine on Brick Lane, 2010

Mobile on Brick Lane, 2012

Mobile phone shop, Dhaka 2009

A woman using her mobile phone. Marrakech 2004

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.

Young man outside a book shop in Dhaka, 2008