The Project
Some years ago while out on a walk with my now teenage son, we came across an old dilapidated payphone. He (being 5 or 6 at the time) was instantly fascinated. He had never touched a real payphone before, although he'd seen them on YouTube. Instantly he picked up the heavy black receiver and punching the metallic square buttons seemed to delight him. For a moment I thought my wife would probably scold me for letting "the baby" touch the dirty receiver, I did mention he was 6 right?
His excitement quickly turned to curiosity and he was filled with questions: Why was this phone broken? How did it work? Did I ever use it? Did I ever use any other payphone? And finally, the question that gave birth to this project: Why are there so few left? Where have they gone? Although in 2019 there were quite a few more pay phones than we have today, my young son had already noticed the disappearing act. It was this that first led me to start photographing phones as a way to preserve them for my kids and their kids, so that they are not completely forgotten.
Each image captures not just a phone, but a moment in time. A past not so distant, but reminiscent of an almost forgotten time. An analog time.
The goal is a comprehensive visual archive before these objects disappear entirely. There are a lot less pay phones today than when I first started this project. Few are still standing and most have long been dead. In most cases if there is any trace at all of a pay phone's previous existence it's usually just limited to some mounting brackets and disconnected wires.
but that's not all…
Gone but not forgotten, some of these relics may prove useful yet.
It's all within your reach… You just have to know where to look