Mobile phone use has gradually become an universal social phenomenon, which is what this project entitled About screen time tries to highlight. The objective of this photographic report is, through interviews with ordinary people met in the street, to take a critical look at the use of our mobile phones by questioning them about their screen time and their uses.

The idea of this project came to me when I became interested in strangers I met on the street and who seemed hypnotized by their mobile phones. I then started photographing them to show what seemed like a detachment from the world. I chose to get as close as possible to the subjects with a 50 mm lens to get closer to people and thus not fall into what would look like voyeurism. In addition, this proximity also allowed me to perceive more easily the reaction of people in front of the camera and to realize that the majority wasn’t paying attention to me. Except for some people who raised their heads mechanically at the sound of the camera before switching back to their phone.

However, only photographing people using their mobile phone did not seem relevant enough to me: I could photograph people when they weren’t necessarily addicted to their screens. In addition, the simple portraits gave, in my opinion, a judging and accusatory character that I didn’t want because, even if it’s obvious that mobile phones have considerably changed our way of life, the purpose of this work was also to show people’s habits and feelings about this problem. That’s why I decided to meet people I was photographing and interview them. To do this, I always followed the same process: first I took a so-called “on the sly” photo of a person using his phone. Then I went to meet this person, I explained him my project and ask for his participation. If he refused, I would look for someone else; if he accepted I would ask him a series of 4 questions as follows:

1. How long do you use your phone each day ? (0-2H; 2-4H; 4-6H and more)
2. What do you use your phone for ? (Social networks, game, work, SMS...)
3. Do you consider yourself addicted to your phone ?
4. Do you think that using your phone affects your life, your relationship with others, or with the environment around you ?

I recorded the answers then made a second portrait of the interviewee, the goal being to have two different photographs of the same person. The first represents him absorbed by his screen and the second taking a moment to disconnect and strike a pose. The final result is made up of 12 interviews and therefore 24 photographs (2 portraits for an interview) printed in a 32 x 32 square format.

This project was the subject of an exhibition at the AMU Gallery in Prague from January 9 to 13, 2023.

Exhibition at the AMU Gallery: