Smartphone Man

On January 9, 2007, Steve Jobs (CEO of Apple Inc.) introduced the first iPhone, revolutionizing mobile telephony. The simple cell phone, which could essentially only be used to make calls and send text messages, was thus phased out. Gradually, these devices were replaced by smartphones. Today, you can hardly find an ordinary cell phone. The smartphone became a computer for on the go and mobile Internet use

exploded. Today we use the smartphone for mails, music, navigation, socialmedia, and much more. No matter where you go, you almost always see people interacting with their smartphone.

 

The question is, are we turning into smartphone people?

 

To answer this question Matthias Schinnerl photographs people and their smartphones. In the digital image processing the smartphone is transformed into a kind of bar code. This code is randomly generated in the ratio "screen time to free time" and then overlaid on the portrait. That is, the higher the screen time, the denser the barcode, the less recognizable the face. For the calculation of the barcode, the required data is determined together with the portrayed person. The screen time is read out from the smartphone and the free time is determined in a short interview.