Developing the idea of 'Lost Connections'

As I mentioned last time, I was interested in the idea of being connected to the world by computers yet being disconnected from our surroundings and each other. How could I get this across visually? Initially, I thought about a simple idea - show the interior spaces lit up by the light from the screens…hints of the edges of sofas, tables, light reflected from surfaces. Then last year, I came across an article in the newspaper and I was captivated by it. (Check the links below)

Meanwhile, my children asked me if they could have my spare/broken phone so they could have it and download games on it. So easily attainable! Taken all for granted, having never known what it was like pre-internet, pre-mobile gadgets. I'm sounding old fashioned now! It was only then, that I started thinking seriously about what actually happens to digital stuff when we don't want it any more or it's cheaper to buy a new one than get the broken one fixed…

I printed out some images for research and started to sketch out composition ideas. I won't work directly from them, but have to start somewhere… Source images: Kevin McElvaney,  Andrew McConnell. The Guardian, 2013.

Here are the news links: 

http://bit.ly/1fuCiDf

Then I started looking into it further: http://bit.ly/1j2dTXD

I looked at the work of photographers Kevin McElvaney and Andrew McConnell.

…and this article pretty much sums it up for me too:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/parenting/wp/2014/09/29/parenting-as-a-gen-xer-what-its-like-to-be-the-first-generation-of-parents-in-the-age-of-ieverything/