Artist Goes Viral For Compelling Photos That Imagine A Society Without Smartphones

We're well aware of society's addiction to technology.

Whether it's our email, the "cloud," or the latest on-demand streaming service, technology surrounds us on a daily basis. It could be argued that the technology that is most ingrained in the fabric of our daily lives would be our smartphones and/or tablets.

These mobile devices have become an extension of our being, literally attached to our hands. I say this knowing that you're probably reading these words on a mobile device as we speak, but my purpose here today isn't to shame you or come at you in some self-righteous manner—plus, if you saw the "screen time" report from my smartphone you would see that I have zero room to talk.

I'm well aware of the "obvious benefits" that advanced technology has afforded us, so I'm definitely not looking for a debate. Instead of judging or preaching I'm simply here to share an interesting collection of work from an artist by the name of Eric Pickersgill.

I noticed so many of my friends sharing a post that featured his work and after diving in I thought it was interesting to see why he took on this project. He describes the moment he began this work on his official website.

Family sitting next to me at Illium café in Troy, NY is so disconnected from one another. Not much talking. Father and two daughters have their own phones out. Mom doesn’t have one or chooses to leave it put away. She stares out the window, sad and alone in the company of her closest family. Dad looks up every so often to announce some obscure piece of info he found online. Twice he goes on about a large fish that was caught. No one replies. I am saddened by the use of technology for interaction in exchange for not interacting. This has never happened before and I doubt we have scratched the surface of the social impact of this new experience. Mom has her phone out now.

The photos you see on his website show individuals who appear to be holding "personal devices" but the devices have been "physically removed" from their hands. Pickersgill aimed to recreate the scenes that he experienced daily and I must say that he did a phenomenal job.

See the entire 'REMOVED' collection here

Click through here to see the large format portraits on his website and share this with friends who need to see it. See more on his official website here.