Hello? Hello! By Laura ROMANE, Camille BERRIVIN & Mathilde MIOCHE

Hello?

Hello!

We took these pictures on Wednesday 30th of September afternoon in Place Delille near to our high school. There was a lot of noise, a little sun and the air smelt of petrol fumes. There are sometimes many people Place Delille because it is quite pleasant and there are places to sit. We come here often to hang out with each other. Most of the people sitting on the benches are usually on their cell phones.

In the first photo we took, we can see a girl sitting on a public bench. She's not paying attention to her surroundings as she is concentrating on her cell phone. In the second photo, two girls are sitting and chatting on the same bench. We cannot see their heads; this makes them anonymous. The people sitting on the bench could be you or me.

The public bench is both impersonal (it does not belong to one person in particular and it is in a public place) and personal in the sense that it is “yours” for the time you sit on it. You can do quite personal things there (put on your makeup, ‘phone, meet a friend, have a sandwich, etc.), though it is in a public place. People can sometimes have a favorite public bench and it can become a place that is part of a routine, a personal story and one’s memories. It is an apt symbol of city life, a place to be alone, or with others, among a crowd.

The city is a place where the individual can feel isolated. Does the cell phone, which has become so much more part of our lives, help us communicate better and overcome our isolation?

Communication is the subject of both pictures, but in different forms: real and virtual. Our cell phone and the social networks cut us off from the “real” world. We speak with friends, but not face to face. We hide behind our screens. Real communication is more difficult, because we can't hide our emotions; we have to be more spontaneous in front of an actual person. The negative aspect of city living is that most people spend so much time on their phones instead of enjoying their lives. Communication becomes more and more difficult because people are better at sending messages to each other rather than talking face to face.

In the countryside, people will talk to one another face-to-face more. In the city, there are a lot of people so it is should be easy to meet. You can find plenty of places where you can talk to friends and hang out with them on a nice bench!