Photo by Gabriela Herman
Gabriela Herman is a photographer in New York City who is gaining a reputation for her portraits of bloggers in the glow of their computer screens while they write. Something about the alchemy of isolation and connection stares right back at us from her arresting images. A shorter version of this interview will air on a future episode of Spark, but you can hear the full interview below, or download the MP3. [runs 13:18]
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This is actually really cool.
These photos are a good reflection of where our society is headed. As mobile devices become more ubiquitous more and more of us will be lit by the glow of our hand held devices while we connect to the world in the dark!
Yes, I see a disturbing trend happening here, and these photos show it. Yes we are dependent on these devices. At the same time, there are some things we did not think about when we purchased those devices.
First, what if the infrastructure that makes up our wireless networks goes out? This has happened during last month's blizzard when several Sprint owned towers went down in Laporte and Porter Counties in Indiana. Fortunately, the local radio stations were still up, and AT&T's network was still up.
These devices would suddenly become useless because they are dependent on a working network infrastructure.
This is a case for having a laptop around. At least with a laptop, there are several ways to connect to the internet (landline modem, DSL, cable, and wi-fi with a working router).
Second, as we are using these devices, think of the attention that is not being paid to other things. Think of college professors and school teachers that have to compete with the smart phones for student's attention.
Third, there are places where the use of smart phones is prohibited. For example, if you work in retail, you cannot have a cell phone on the sales floor that has not been issued by the corporate office.
I've seen them before, I really like the whole project, think it's describing new type of society we have here.
I have no problem with this type of expression. Sure it has a voyeuristic tone but aren't we all really wanting to peek over our neighbours fences? Sometimes we chat and even become friends. Sometimes we just stare and wonder. Blogger portraits may have debatable art value unless in the right hands, but so what? Blogging is real. Portraits of then is no less valuable as say- beautiful celebrity women in Vanity fair, is it?