For this project, I was tasked with creating a short photo essay about an issue that I was passionate about. As such, I was given full creative freedom to talk about something I am somewhat concerned about:

The loss of human interaction that has come with an increasingly digital world.

“BODIES AND THE GLOW”

I, as with most other people, have always been drawn to connection. I don’t mean in some broad abstract idea. Connection exists in the quiet moments we don’t think about; It is lived in small, intimate, fleeting moments that culminate in the relationships we so cherish. However, I have noticed that somewhere along the way, these moments began to thin out, slowly vanishing, not dramatically, but quietly.  

I noticed it when I was eating out with friends: tables of people, all sitting together, yet each person alone, enthralled by their devices. I noticed it again near the campus lawn. People sitting so close they are practically touching; Then, one person checks their phone, and another, and another, until everyone is left scrolling their phones.

This is an observation, not an accusation. It is important to notice how the world is shifting and how social dynamics change alongside it. We gather in these public spaces designed for fostering social interactions and conversations, yet somehow our attention ends up drifting elsewhere. Phones demand our attention, glowing, creating a tiny barrier. Conversations pause while someone scrolls; Groups sit together, and couples sit across from one another, while each person is caught within their own separate streams of constant stimulation. We can be physically with each other, yet emotionally isolated and fractured. The glow is too intoxicating.

However, this far extends beyond the reach of phones. Orders are placed at kiosks, where feedback is instantaneous. You could eat a meal without ever having interacted with a single person. Likewise, menus become QR codes, meant to be scanned so you can browse and order all at the same time, all for the sake of convenience. Outside, small delivery robots barrel by, weaving through people. Everything has become as much a natural part of the scenery as a bench or the trees that line the street.

No one is immune to this, especially me. I slip onto apps without thinking. When waiting in silence, I will pull out my phone to pass the time. It has become so second-nature that it feels normal, just muscle memory, until it doesn’t. That’s when it hits like a wave; The absence of connection becomes noticeable all at once, a vast sea of deafening silence in a room bursting at the seams with people. All that remains are bodies and the glow.