PROJECT STATEMENT
Screen Time
Cellphones are ubiquitous, and they have changed public spaces. As people turn away from each other and toward devices, phone interactions feel hidden and private; yet every online action is potentially public. We often share more about our private lives to strangers on social media than to those sitting beside us.
My photographic series “Screen Time” pairs a studio portrait with a reveal of the subject’s phone screen, showing their recent activity. How does this knowledge, which might reinforce or contradict an initial impression, influence our perception of an individual? What sorts of clues are hiding in the browser cache?
This series explores how the pervasive influence of technology impacts privacy, identity, and engagement with one another.
BIOGRAPHY
Susan Lapides is an American photographic artist who creates time-based projects focusing on adolescence and place. Through her portraits and landscapes, she examines social, cultural and community issues. Lapides earned her BA in ArtHistory from Tufts University and the Museum of Fine Arts School. During her extensive career as a professional editorial photographer for national publications, she photographed President Barack Obama, then the Harvard Law Review Editor. The most life-changing assignment was meeting her future husband while photographing for People Magazine. Lapides began her fine art career in 2011 with a solo exhibit at the Griffin Museum in Boston and continues to exhibit her photography nationally and internationally in solo and juried shows, receiving multiple awards and honors. Her photographs are in the permanent collections of the Fidelity Corporate Art Collection, and in New Brunswick, Canada and private collections. She resides in Boston, Massachusetts, USA and New Brunswick, Canada.
CONTACT
Photos by Melanie Chapman