We Are Gathered Here

This analog body of work was made entirely at weddings just preceding the dawn of the iPhone.

This body of work was made entirely at weddings just preceding the dawn of the iPhone.

Its launch in 2007 marks a traceable fray to the weft and weave of human connection. Concurrent with our dependence on the device, Pew Research data supports a sharp rise in teen depression and suicide by 2012.

In contrast, prior to the advent of the iPhone, social gatherings took on a distinctly different form. Throughout this work, there are no screens. The only object held to a face is a diminutive camera, likely pulled from a purse. When a device is shown, it is only for a glance. Because of this, the connections among people in these pictures remain unpolluted by screens. The blank scroll stare and phones held aloft are pleasantly absent. Escape mechanisms weren’t needed; the party itself was the escape. These pictures are a time machine marking a clear division between then and now.