The Death of Conversation Photos Highlight Our Smartphone Dependency
Photos by Babycakes Romero.
Before I got my first iPhone (January 2011), I would never be on my phone. Sure, I'd get the occasional text message and call, and I would get subscribed tweets to my phone every once in awhile, but I never truly considered it to be a vital part of my daily life. When I upgraded to the iPhone 3GS, my life changed. All of a sudden, I had the internet at my disposal, and instead of simply waiting until I got home from work to fall into the dreaded Wikipedia black hole, I'd just do so on my commute to work, during downtime, and on the commute back. The near-four years since haven't changed much, with work emails constantly coming in, social media needing to be attended to, and meeting reminders. In saying that, I've made a conscious effort to pull away from my phone when I'm around certain company, and with my iPhone 4S on its last legs, I try not to be on it as much as possible while I'm out and about.
Babycakes Romero, a street photographer based in London, has turned to the rise of smartphone dependency (and the fall of personal communication) with his latest photo series, The Death of Conversation. In his photos, he captures groups of people not interacting directly with one another, but instead face down to their phones. As Romero puts it himself:
I started to photograph people in company on their phones as there was a certain symmetry to them and it appealed on a visual level, but as I continued I noticed an inherent sadness to the proceedings.
Indeed, the inherent sadness captured in the photos are buoyed by Romero's decision to filter the photos to black and white, creating a grim tone throughout the photos. As smartphones grow smarter, our reliance on them as a tool to make it through the day and not direct, personal social interaction really could mean the death of conversation as we once knew it. Check out some of my favorite photos from the set below, and find more on his Bored Panda post.
[via Bored Panda]
The Weekly Swarm: 10/20 - 10/26
The last full work week of October is upon us! I hope all of you have your fall jackets ready for the dropping temperature over the next couple of weeks. We closed out the second-to-last week of October with a great supply of content, including Three Card Photography's photos from The Glitch Mob's show at the Aragon, our interview with Toby Jeg, founder of the Chicago-based punk rock label Red Scare Industries, another interview with Austin Film Festival's Screenplay Competition Director Matt Dy, reviews of both White Bird in a Blizzard and Birdman, and Angie's amazing photos from Open House Chicago.
Check out all of this and more below.
[RH Photos] The Glitch Mob at Aragon Ballroom (10/17/2014)
[Video] The Simpsons Reimagined in Other Cartoon Styles
[Interview] Toby Jeg (Red Scare Industries Founder)
[Video] Randy Class: "Cocaine Kisses"
[Weekend Box Office] Gone Girl Gone from Top Spot, Fury Brings in $23.5m
[Interview] Matt Dy (Austin Film Festival Screenplay Competition Director)
[Trailer] The Look of Silence
[Teaser Trailer] Avengers: Age of Ultron
[Weekly Netflix Fix] The Hunger Games: Catching Fire Catches Fire on Netflix
[Review] White Bird in a Blizzard
[Review] Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
[RH Photos] The Glitch Mob at Aragon Ballroom (10/17/2014)
Adventures in Babysitting Photo Series Shows Perils of Babysitting
[Through My Lens] Discovering Hidden Gems with Open House Chicago
Adventures in Babysitting Photo Series Shows Perils of Babysitting
Babysitting may seem like the easiest gig ever. Who wouldn't want to sit around watching TV and making sure a baby eats every little bit and sleeps comfortably? However, babies are scary things, being way too delicate and fragile for all of the fun things life offers. When a Swedish couple, Erica and Hannes, was deemed with babysitting a friend's six-month-old for a day, they were given a laundry list of things to do/not do that might come up with their time with the little guy. Still, I'm pretty confident their friend's list didn't include animal attacks and alien abductions.
In their photo series Adventures in Babysitting, Erica and Hannes photoshopped precarious dangers that faced the trio during their day together. The couple even gave hourly reports to their friend, letting them know that everything was A-OK, all things considered. The last time I babysat my nephew, he fell asleep an hour into it. Little did he know the adventure was just beginning... but that's another story for another time. Enjoy Erica and Hannes' Adventures in Babysitting photos below!
[via PetaPixel]
[RH Photos] The Glitch Mob at Aragon Ballroom (10/17/2014)
Photos by Alex Lapenia. Recap by Erica Steinhouse. This post originally appeared on our affiliate site, Chicago Music.
The whole floor was filled with fans as The Glitch Mob and opening acts The M Machine, and Chrome Sparks came and rocked Aragon Ballroom last Friday. The crowd stood still waiting for The Glitch Mob to come on as the red lights back lit the "The Blade" setup. The three members took the stage in silhouette as the crowd froze and began to scream in unity. Smiles ran across the faces of many as Glitch Mob opened with "Drive It like You Stole It." All three members, Boreta, Ooah, and edIT, had their own individual setups where they played the live DJ set and percussion sounds. The mob all headbanged in rhythm while the silhouette of their drum sticks followed. Many of the Glitch Mob fans in the crowd, or "Glitchers" as many call themselves in Chicago, headbanged along with their hands raised high with nothing but pure excitement. The amount of space in the crowd giving many people the chance to move and enjoy their space gave the show a loving and caring atmosphere. The Blade setup consisted of a saw-like display behind Boreta, Ooah, and edIT, a beat pad for each of them, and their electronic drum sticks. This unique setup gave the set more of a twist instead of the three standing behind a DJ table. The Blade gave a very futuristic and modern feel to the group's set and was perfect for their new album and tour, Love Death Immortality.
The Weekly Swarm: 10/13 - 10/19
Last week was a fun one here at Ruby Hornet. I was able to share my coverage from New York Comic Con, including some amazing video roundtable interviews with the cast of Bob's Burgers. We also shared our photos from this year's Austin City Limits in Austin (obviously). There's also the normal stuff we post, like the trailer for the new Mike Tyson Mysteries show on adult swim, Robert Downey, Jr. officially joining the cast of Captain America 3, Sarah Rosado's cereal portraits of musicians, and much more. Check everything out below!
[NYCC 2014 Photos] Run the Jewels at Adult Swim Tyrannic Maiden Voyage (10/11/2014)
[Trailer] Mike Tyson Mysteries
[NYCC 2014 Photos] New York Comic Con 2014 Cosplay
[Interview] The Glitch Mob
[NYCC 2014 Interview] H. Jon Benjamin and Larry Murphy (Bob's Burgers)
Sarah Rosado's Cereal Portraits of Musicians
Fun Fun Fun Fest Full Schedule Released
[RH Photos] Austin City Limits Festival 2014
[NYCC 2014 Interview] The Cast of Bob's Burgers
[Teaser Trailer] Tomorrowland
Captain America 3 Inspired by Civil War, Robert Downey, Jr. Returning as Iron Man
HBO is Cutting the Cord, Offering Cable-Free Subscriptions in 2015
DC Announces Full Slate of Films Through 2020
[Weekly Netflix Fix] Mid-October Update
[Review] Camp X-Ray
[NYCC 2014 Photos] Run the Jewels at Adult Swim Tyrannic Maiden Voyage (10/11/2014)
[NYCC 2014 Photos] New York Comic Con 2014 Cosplay
Sarah Rosado's Cereal Portraits of Musicians
[RH Photos] Austin City Limits Festival 2014
Sarah Rosado's Cereal Portraits of Musicians
Creativity knows no bounds for artists, and one artist has captured this idea by expressing herself through something as "simple" as using a breakfast staple. Inspiration strikes at the weirdest times, and for Sarah Rosado, this was no exception. "The inspiration for the series came one morning when one day while eating cereal and listening to oldies and R&B music," she says, adding that creating portraits of celebrities' faces with corn flakes came from the random thought that music has never tasted so good. The choice of corn flakes was a deliberate one, both because they're Rosado's favorite type, but also because the portraits are, as she says, "Easier to manage when creating images requiring finer lines."
Check out some of Rosado's cereal portraits she's created below, including such artists as Bob Marley, Aaliyah, Lauryn Hill, Pharrell, and more! Be sure to check out Rosado's website and Instagram for more from the artist herself.
[NYCC 2014 Photos] New York Comic Con 2014 Cosplay
Photos by Crystal Shepherd
I've been going to comic book conventions of varying sizes in Chicago for almost a decade now. Attending New York Comic Con, however, was its own beast. Thrown by ReedPOP, the same organizers that put together both San Diego Comic Con and C2E2, NYCC was always seen as the second-largest comic book convention in the US behind SDCC. This year, the Javits Center in Midtown Manhattan had upwards of 100,000+ attendees walk through its halls each day, nearing (if not surpassing) SDCC's numbers.
When I attend comic book conventions, I'm mainly there for two things: Buying stuff and checking out cosplayers. I took care of my purchases on the convention's first day (welcoming the Tobias Funke and Super Saiyan Goku Funko POP vinyls to my collection) and spent the rest of my time at NYCC 2014 looking for some amazing cosplayers. NYCC 2014 didn't let me down, as my friends and I ran across a full set of Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers, the partial cast of Final Fantasy IX, Bob and Linda from Bob's Burgers, the Scooby Doo team, and even a Titan from Attack on Titan.
[NYCC 2014 Photos] Run the Jewels at Adult Swim Tyrannic Maiden Voyage (10/11/2014)
Photos by Geoff Henao
As some friends know, I spent nearly 24 hours checking and refreshing Adult Swim's New York Comic Con 2014 page so I could put down my RSVP for their "Adult Swim Tyrannic Maiden Voyage." Basically, the voyage was a three hour cruise along the Hudson River that promised a live performance from a "secret musical guest." Since Adult Swim's inception, they've been linked with some amazing, talented artists, so anybody even tangentially related to Adult Swim would be of the utmost quality. Little did I know that the guest they got was none other than Killer Mike and El-P, better known together as Run the Jewels.
I've been to hundreds of shows over the past decade, yet none of them could compare to seeing Run the Jewels on a packed boat with friends, both old and new. Considering the crowd was made up almost primarily of comic book convention-goers, it was safe to say that the large majority of the crowd probably didn't know who Run the Jewels were. However, by the end of their set, everybody was feeling them, and with good reason. Saturday was the first time I actually saw Killer Mike and El-P live, and given the circumstances surrounding the nature of their set, I don't think any other time will compare to the magic I experienced on that boat.
Anyways, check out some of the photos I shot of Run the Jewels' set below.
