"Even as it dominates, and narrows, our field of vision, the phone as an object has become invisible to us." Except for the people who are vying for our attention, like our kids, spouses, etc. Then it's painfully obvious. (Not trying to be contrarian; this is confessional more than anything.)
Yes, even as we need to step back and look at ourselves looking at our phone, we need to step even further back and look at others looking at ourselves looking at our phone.
I'm thinking vertical is the default traditional form for text, think stone tablets books etc. Although books usually have more than one column which gives them some kind of hortizontalness. Something might be made of this.
Hey, well good as far as you've traveled Nicholas! The history is very interesting. The phenomenology of the phone, though, first, far transcends the visual aspect ratio of its screen and, second, that aspect ratio is easily changed. That smartphone visuals are usually in portrait mode is much more a matter of habit than of technology.
I am not much of a photographer, but I delight in taking pictures with my phone. The aspect ratio is a consideration in every photo and video I make. I invite everyone to explore this freedom. To illustrate I include here a link to photos I took of Kenwick Table in Lexington, Kentucky just last week: https://photos.app.goo.gl/jt2iMPMUWtdqFcaT8. Kenwick Table is a community coffee shop in a residential neighborhood. Paintings and community events adorn its walls. I easily selected multiple aspect ratios using the standard camera on my too old Samsung. In particular, the third picture uses the full aspect ratio of the screen horizontally.
It feels criminal to send you a tik tok, but the most unsettling version of the fields of vision narrowing to me is seeing how wide screen shows are edited for smartphone clips. In this SNL clip, the camera is (automatically?) panning slightly to the left and right to keep Bill Hader on screen, who is moving normally for a horizontal screen but too much for a vertical screen. Like you said, it makes me feel like prey. https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTF7mJme3/
Yeah, it makes you kind of queasy watching it. It'll be interesting to see how the tension inherent in having popular media devices with radically different dimensions - traditional horizontal for TVs and cinema screens, and vertical for phone screens - plays out. There are already TVs, like the Samsung Sero, that can rotate between landscape and portrait modes. Will vertical ultimately become the new standard for television?
Read this with my 10th grade students a month ago. They said it was refreshing food for thought - thank you!
"Even as it dominates, and narrows, our field of vision, the phone as an object has become invisible to us." Except for the people who are vying for our attention, like our kids, spouses, etc. Then it's painfully obvious. (Not trying to be contrarian; this is confessional more than anything.)
Yes, even as we need to step back and look at ourselves looking at our phone, we need to step even further back and look at others looking at ourselves looking at our phone.
I'm thinking vertical is the default traditional form for text, think stone tablets books etc. Although books usually have more than one column which gives them some kind of hortizontalness. Something might be made of this.
That was an incorrect link I just posted. It seems impossible to edit posts. This is the correct link: https://photos.app.goo.gl/yBQ5D3VvLn5EY3d3A
Hey, well good as far as you've traveled Nicholas! The history is very interesting. The phenomenology of the phone, though, first, far transcends the visual aspect ratio of its screen and, second, that aspect ratio is easily changed. That smartphone visuals are usually in portrait mode is much more a matter of habit than of technology.
I am not much of a photographer, but I delight in taking pictures with my phone. The aspect ratio is a consideration in every photo and video I make. I invite everyone to explore this freedom. To illustrate I include here a link to photos I took of Kenwick Table in Lexington, Kentucky just last week: https://photos.app.goo.gl/jt2iMPMUWtdqFcaT8. Kenwick Table is a community coffee shop in a residential neighborhood. Paintings and community events adorn its walls. I easily selected multiple aspect ratios using the standard camera on my too old Samsung. In particular, the third picture uses the full aspect ratio of the screen horizontally.
Thank you. Thought provoking.
does any of this help?
https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0,5&q=phenomenology+of+the+smartphones
It feels criminal to send you a tik tok, but the most unsettling version of the fields of vision narrowing to me is seeing how wide screen shows are edited for smartphone clips. In this SNL clip, the camera is (automatically?) panning slightly to the left and right to keep Bill Hader on screen, who is moving normally for a horizontal screen but too much for a vertical screen. Like you said, it makes me feel like prey. https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTF7mJme3/
Yeah, it makes you kind of queasy watching it. It'll be interesting to see how the tension inherent in having popular media devices with radically different dimensions - traditional horizontal for TVs and cinema screens, and vertical for phone screens - plays out. There are already TVs, like the Samsung Sero, that can rotate between landscape and portrait modes. Will vertical ultimately become the new standard for television?