Ever since the iPhone 6S came out, it's been hard for users everywhere to put it down and join the human ranks. With every new Snapchat filter and Instagram update it becomes increasingly more difficult to set aside our devices and reconnect with the world around us.
Sensing this trend, photographer Eric Pickersgill wanted to show people just how ridiculous we look when we are engrossed in our technology. He started a genius photo series called Removed, where he does just that—he removes the devices from photos of families and friends together.
The resulting pics are beautiful black and white portraits...of people completely disconnected from one another.
Pickersgill went about the project by having subjects look at their smartphones and tablets until they became completely engrossed in them. He then carefully removed the devices but had the subjects keep their stare and posture.
Pickergill told E! about what inspired him to create the photos. "The series began when I was at an artist residency in upstate New York last year, just a few weeks after getting married," he said. "I spent the mornings working at this little cafe and one morning I noticed this family eating breakfast together where they were all sharing the same physical space however they were engaging with people and content elsewhere and maybe it was the beautiful light and the mother who wasn't using a device that made me see the situation as a photograph."
We don't know about you, but these pics are certainly going to remind us to step away from the iPhone. Temporarily, at least.