"Elsewhere"

Elsewhere examines the isolation created by smartphone use in public space. Bodies cross paths, yet gazes turn away, each person immersed in a screen: connected elsewhere while becoming absent from the immediate world.

Photographed in black and white, the project draws on the visual language of an earlier photographic era, creating a contrast with the unmistakably contemporary presence of smartphones.

In some images, a slow shutter speed emphasizes the stillness of people absorbed by their phones, visually suspending them inside their digital bubbles while the world around them moves. In others, a faster shutter captures subjects still in motion, seemingly caught between the physical and digital worlds.

Through the series, I explore a familiar paradox of contemporary life: being surrounded yet alone; constantly connected, yet increasingly disconnected from the present moment.

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Vianney Robin, 09/2025