Technology lies at the heart of our progression as a race. However, while space tourism and cryptocurrencies grab the headlines, it’s the humble smartphone that is leading the way.
Our phones have changed the way we interact, with our friends and the world around us… but has this tool, built specifically to advance our communication, actually eroded the fundamental foundations of human connection?
Each iphone has ‘designed by Apple in California’ written on its back, but the majority are assembled in Shenzhen, China’s own Silicon Valley. In recent years, millions have flocked from the provinces to this highly advanced technological metropolis. They work hard, and on Dameshina Beach, one of the busiest stretches of sand in the world, they play hard. It is on these crowded shores that Oleg Tolstoy shot his new series Silicon Beach.
His images uncover the complex relationship between technology, each other, our connection with space and the experiences we have within it. As we gawp at the subjects, squinting to avoid the glare of the sun and the sea on their screens, what are we to think? Is this experience enhancement or detraction from the moment? Indeed, could this be a startling glimpse at the future of leisure as we know it? Oleg’s images dare us to question our assumptions: if others people in other places choose only to see and experience their free time in ways which make them feel comfortable, who are we to say they should do otherwise?
(Conceptualised and created in collaboration with Rob Watts, Senior Creative at Saatchi & Saatchi London)
Technology lies at the heart of our progression as a race. However, while space tourism and cryptocurrencies grab the headlines, it’s the humble smartphone that is leading the way.
Our phones have changed the way we interact, with our friends and the world around us… but has this tool, built specifically to advance our communication, actually eroded the fundamental foundations of human connection?
Each iphone has ‘designed by Apple in California’ written on its back, but the majority are assembled in Shenzhen, China’s own Silicon Valley. In recent years, millions have flocked from the provinces to this highly advanced technological metropolis. They work hard, and on Dameshina Beach, one of the busiest stretches of sand in the world, they play hard. It is on these crowded shores that Oleg Tolstoy shot his new series Silicon Beach.
His images uncover the complex relationship between technology, each other, our connection with space and the experiences we have within it. As we gawp at the subjects, squinting to avoid the glare of the sun and the sea on their screens, what are we to think? Is this experience enhancement or detraction from the moment? Indeed, could this be a startling glimpse at the future of leisure as we know it? Oleg’s images dare us to question our assumptions: if others people in other places choose only to see and experience their free time in ways which make them feel comfortable, who are we to say they should do otherwise?
(Conceptualised and created in collaboration with Rob Watts, Senior Creative at Saatchi & Saatchi London)
