Calling

This series of photographs portrays some of the gestural details of how we hold and use our cell phones—as cameras, telephones, screens for consuming mediated information, as well as activating and self-soothing devices—most basically, as extensions of our bodies. Because the deployment of technology is never neutral, what is relayed behaviorally appears quite telling; for instance, in how we seem to navigate both internal realms and exterior experiences simultaneously when tethered to this equipment. Like Walker Evans' surreptitious 1930s New York City subway photo series, which revealed the posture and composure of an urban ridership of the time (of people engrossed in their newspapers, adjusting their gaze to avoid eye contact, signaling reverie, etc.), Calling reflects upon people’s overlapping public yet private personae. Riddled throughout this portfolio are depictions that specifically point to our cell phone’s imaging functions. Some shots were merely captured with cell phones, such as an image of an old-fashioned phone booth. Mostly, however, the series can be read as pictures of pictures, or algorithms—like snakes, progressively consuming their tails. Thirty images from this series were shown in Silver and Pixels, an annual exhibition at the Luxe Gallery at San Diego City College from June through August of 2026