Can You Hear Me Now? by CoreyBlack
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Description
Cell phones? Whadaya gonna do? My first recollection of a mobile phone was one that my aunt bought in about 1987. It was the size of an electric carving knife (remember those?) and had an antenna as tall as a radio tower. The big, gee-whiz shock and awe thing about it though was that it didn't have a cord attached and you could take it outside!!!! Well...as long as you didn't travel more than 25 feet from your house, you were good to go. Pretty cool!
I don't remember when I first heard the term "Cellular Phone" but it must have been around 1993, when the X-Files first came on. Agents Mulder and Scully had cell phones: pretty cool! Cell phones maintained their James Bond gadget-fascination for me until the later '90s, when suddenly--everyone, and their pet monkey--had one. Everywhere you turned, some lame-brained yuppie in a Land's End safari jacket would jabber their loudly banal existence into your ear. There was no escape. Even in movie theaters, even in fancy restaurants, even in libraries...even on the toilet. I began to detest cell phones, and the people using them. I swore I'd never own one.
And then, Illinois Bell/Ameritech/SBC/Whatever-The-Hell-They're-Calling-Themselves-These-Days began to royally screw up land line service (not just mine, but everybody's) and for someone trying to launch their own small business, this proved disastrous. I was finally forced to get a cell phone in 2001. I've now had one for nearly 10 years and can't imagine being without it...or being tied to a land line. Unlike most cell phone users I see, however, I was actually raised to have manners and use my phone accordingly: I go outside to take calls, and if forced to take calls inside, I keep my voice down and try to make the call as short as possible. It's because I don't want to be rude and I don't want a room full of strangers hearing my personal business.
Frequently whenever I see or hear anyone being grossly inappropriate on a mobile phone, I find myself turning into my grandmother, wanting to yank the thing out of the offender's hand and yelling: Why don't you behave and act like you've got some sense? and don't get me started on people who talk on cell phones while driving through densely-populated areas in their cars.
Let's just say that the punishment for such offenders would involve being buried up to one's waist in the roadway, while cars sped at you at 70 miles per hour. People who text while driving should be shot on sight, before they pollute the rest of the gene pool.
This particular fellow looks all right. He's probably talking about Christmas presents or something. This picture was made out of the window of Wendy's hamburger joint on Lawrence Avenue, in the Ravenswood area of Chicago, on December 22, 2009.
Comments (15)
Madbat
Hmmm....then I am the only one on the planet who still does not own a cell phone....
danapommet
Hey MadBat - you must be the last one. Corey, this is to cold looking for the middle of June. I like the cell phone versus all the signage in the background. Dana
yons
Excuse me! I am the only one on the planet who does not possess one. Had one and threw it on the floor where it busted into a thousand pieces and I have never been so happy to throw away $200.00,I had it only three days.Now I am free, free ,free...................
Richardphotos
I resisted buying a cell phone until the around 82. a client said I could use her phone then after I got on calling for materials for her,she rudely told me I had to get off.that was that and I bought my first.
Chipka
I love modern technology! I'm also amazed at how modern technology and good old-fashioned stupidity tend to go hand-in-hand. Amazing. Oh, I don't dare count the times I've heard yuppies discussing their profit margins and diversified portfolios on the el...as if their only reason for riding the el was to announce to everyone that they had money, that they had stuff that somehow humanity and human mortality were no longer relevant to them...as if their stuff especially money on paper (that might vanish if someone on Wall Street moves a decimal point!) put them above such human inconveniences as social skill! On the flipside of that, I love overhearing snippets of conversations that tend to take on rather surreal qualities. Even better, I loved riding on the tram in Prague and hearing cell phone conversations there. They were never loud, never intrusive, but if I happened to be sitting next to a particularly thuggish quasi-skinhead in combat boots with metal spikes sticking out of the shoulders of his jacket, I was always amazed to see him flip his phone open and say, politely (and quietly enough to disturb no one) "Ano, prosim," in that musical Czech way that must be heard in order to be appreciated. It's amazingly bouncy and flexible, like Czech is composed entirely of elastic words that bend slightly when they get warm. Ah...what a little journey this photo just took me on! It's a great slice of life photo! I love the details: the background trivia in the form of advertisements and declarations: especially 39 per month: yeah, you can't beat that! 39-whats I don't know, but it only takes 39 of them, and not 40 as one might expect! This is a great shot.
durleybeachbum
What a great read, Corey, and I do SO agree with you about drivers and phones..brilliant idea for their punishments! I have an idea for a special photo for you regarding the Lands End clothing company..
flavia49
fantastic image!!
beachzz
What always amazes me about people and their cell phones is that they think everyone within a thousand feet is so very interested in everything they have to say. Uh, hello--I really don't give a **** if you stocks are down, the boss lied about where he went, where you're going to dinner. I DO care about how fricken rude you are and your punishment is perfect. And texting--omg, don't even get me started. Whatever happened to speaking??? Great commentary, Corey, you got us all going. OH, and the Lands End reference?? I use LL Bean as my beacon for that kind of person---you ever seen a bunch of em together??? It's SCARY---you'll never see more organic matter in your life!!! And humor---(as Mark would say) fuggeddaboutit (well, close, I probably didn't spell it right!!) !!
marybelgium
also I love modern technology and I agree with Chipka! wonderful photo !
auntietk
Looking at this shot in full view is a trip into time-stands-still! I got lost in the reflection of the bare tree in the window molding strip. Sheesh! The picture is so immediate, so THERE, that my feet are cold now. As for cell phones and the above comments ... I THOUGHT I was the only person on the planet without a cell phone, but apparently there are at least two or three more. I spend loads of time on the computer, but don't ask me to answer your cell ... I have no idea how to operate the thing! I've turned into your grandmother too, btw, and for the same reason. :P
jmb007
bonne photo!!
sandra46
a terrific image! i also believe i put my cell phone somewhere and forgot about it! people in Italy are crazy about phones and shout their business around for everybody to hear, in fifty languages at least where I live. anyway this one is a great capture!
anahata.c
a strong collision of images in this shot, I love the building signs, the face over "atlantic39.com", the sidewalk sign harmonizing with the bus sign behind (also in blues), the "ENTER" and the red bag in that guy's hands (it kind of harmonizes with the color of the ENTER sign), and the bold yellows & oranges on the bus (the route) and the red advertisement at the bottom of the bus-front, which kind of ties all the 'reds' together. Feels naturally composed in your eye, taken in an instant, and spontaneous but well-planned out; and it's real urbania near christmas, snowy, gray and a little off kilter. (I love how you use angles, you use them very subtly and they always are part of the 'story', never just gratuitous.) Wonderful natural capture. As for the whole phone thing, I too don't have a cell phone. I'm landlocked. I'd LIKE a cell phone, but I just don't have one. I appreciate your etiquette though. Although if I were with someone really rude, I'd love to have one just to pull it out (as they're telling me the most wrenching story of the day), and say, "oh---this is for me---just keep on talking." And I'd talk loud and laugh roaringly, and go on until the other person left. Cells can come in handy for passive aggression. And I do remember the first mobiles, they were like walkie-talkies from spy films. Amazing they were once 'sleek'...Love the upload. Real chicago winter stuff, and love the composition with signs, et al.
myrrhluz
I love my cellphone particularly for it's conveniences like finding someone I'm with but not with in a large store, meeting up with people on the road, and seeing if there is something someone wants at the store or fast food place while I'm there. My home phone has become a number to give people, I don't really want to talk to, mostly businesses. I do not like talking on the phone with strangers about or while driving. I too keep such calls short. I was waiting at a street light once and half of the drivers I saw go through it had a phone held up to their ear. Scary! I used to cashier at the car wash and one of my pet peeves is people coming up to the register while talking on a cell phone. These people also often tossed the ticket at me. I always wanted to toss their receipt, change, credit card, whatever, back at them. Occasionally I would get people who would get a call while at the register and answer it saying, "I'll call you right back." I always wanted to hug them. I love your image, narrative and all the comments! Your work so often brings out great comments! It is a great scene of the busy, objects crammed, life we lead and the person on a cell phone is a perfect symbol of it. It also makes me think of the sameness of so many places in the U.S. The snow and heavy clothing are not something I see everyday, but the Wendy's sign and the person on a cell phone certainly are. I like the little cap of snow and shoulder pads on the sign.
Redbone619
"Very nicely done." I love human-scale cityscapes versus rows of soulless office buildings and, even worse, obscene skyscrapers. I've had a cellphone for just about 3 years, but unlike The Hero Of This Picture never put it to my ear - it's the Bluetooth earpiece instead [a cute red Motorola that matches my red Lotus], which while avoiding the potential risk of cancer takes getting used to sometimes peculiar stares from people who see me talking to thin air. But at least nobody's going to drag me out back of some megaplex to thrash me on the subject of ettakit, since I never practice the shocking rudeness of others with the things. And anybody does DWT ought to get the firing squad, not only before polluting the gene pool but before their stupidity harms others. "Not exactly appetizing scenery" - but this sure is!