Thought-Provoking Photos Show People Getting Sucked into Their Phones

Technology can make our life better and easier, but what happens in case it replaces our real life with the digital one? Most people nowadays are so obsessed with and attached to their mobile devices, such as smartphones or tablets, that they just can’t keep from checking text messages, social media notifications and emails all the time. It seems that we have gradually become slaves to our phones and computers.

According to a 2015 Gallup poll, 52% of Americans check their smartphone a few times an hour while 81% of smartphone owners keep their device near them almost all the time when awake. So, our phones have become a sort of extension of ourselves which we can’t live even an hour without.

This global phenomenon has inspired 20-year-old French artist Antoine Geiger to create a series of thought-provoking photos titled “Sur-Fake.” The images depict random people taking selfies, texting or playing mobile games. Thanks to photo manipulation, their faces appear as being sucked into the screens of their mobile devices so that they lose features and become completely blurred and unrecognizable.

The images may look somehow disturbing, but they certainly convey a powerful message. With his photo project, Geiger shows that our smartphones have literally become our second identity, stealing our energy and attention from real life.

“I wanted to come back to the idea of fake identities, over-exposed, sucked by the digital gulf that breaks the relationship to reality,” Geiger wrote about his project. “What interests me in this texture of sucked faces is the over-exposure that gradually allows a very organic dimension, as well as digital, to render something quite disturbing.”

How many times a day do you check your smartphone? What is your opinion about the role of mobile devices in our everyday life? We would love to hear your thoughts on this.

Image credit: Antoine Geiger