Thanks I liked the images! I used pay phones in the news business. You carried pockets full of coins and shouted hot news stories down thousands of miles of copper wire. In fact those departed phones would have carried many human stories. Oh well, we move on.
There’s a whole social history of the payphone. I’m sure it’s been written many times. But would also be a fascinating college course to create: a great lens to look at history, industry, design, economics, technology, and so much more.
Your first shot here is really interesting in itself Josh – payphone locations becoming phone charging locations. I guess that's one way to make use of the space, but what a strange time we live in. I like your 4th shot too and its clean composition. Thanks so much for including my photograph here and giving us a mention – really appreciate it!
I have a lot more shots where there are other kinds of repurposing going on. Literature stations, etc. But I found to make this project anything it took a lot of editing (the ‘removing photos’ kind of editing… vs post processing). Thanks for the comments on specific photos, and hope you two are well.
At least you've found places where there's at least still one phone. Over here I can't remember seeing one payphone for years 🤔 If I see one I'll take a picture 😉
This one always interested. It was taken at the new Terminal 2 (T2) at the San Francisco airport (SFO) shortly after it opened. The architect designed it for six payphones. But didn’t started until long after payphones began to disappear.
I’ve always wondered why they went forward with that design. My best guess is that an RFP had been written years before (10?) and called for this as an element of the design.
And even though everyone knew it was useless, I’m guessing the process of changing the RFP was harder than just building it and leaving most of them blank.
Anyone involved in major public construction care to comment?
Yeah I think often these buildings take so much time to complete, they are basically already out of date by the time they are commissioned. I've seen this here too with building tunnels etc. After completion, within a year or two they closed again for a major safety upgrade because the equipment used was already out of date :)
Thanks for sharing these! My favorite would be the first one with the “R u charged”. This adds an extra element to the image than if it didn’t have it. It would be harder to capture that one strong image of this subject compared to putting together a series of images about which you would feel less enthusiastic but I still think the later (making the series) is worth doing from viewing your post.
Good idea for s project. My favourite shot if the one with the broken yellow handset. There's something unsettling about documenting the absence of something. It reminds us that people, like objects, can be disappeared.
Cool idea! I always photograph pay phones when I come across them, but have never thought to look for the places they used to be. Yours tell a compelling story.
Love the “where they were” series of former phone locations. More, please! 😃 Great finds, well done! I also like the shots of phones themselves. All great subject matter, in my opinion!
Yes Josh!! These are fantastic and reminder of what used to be and your shots give us a sense of these spaces that I believe we used to take for granted and now they don't even know what to do with these spaces anymore. I love your vision and explanation of the pay phones. And your shots of current pay phones are great! Thank you for sharing and putting this out there.
Thanks I liked the images! I used pay phones in the news business. You carried pockets full of coins and shouted hot news stories down thousands of miles of copper wire. In fact those departed phones would have carried many human stories. Oh well, we move on.
There’s a whole social history of the payphone. I’m sure it’s been written many times. But would also be a fascinating college course to create: a great lens to look at history, industry, design, economics, technology, and so much more.
The movie clips alone would be great. Reverse charge call from Al Capone etc!
Yes! There is either a whole section of the course or a whole separate course on the payphone in popular culture.
Your first shot here is really interesting in itself Josh – payphone locations becoming phone charging locations. I guess that's one way to make use of the space, but what a strange time we live in. I like your 4th shot too and its clean composition. Thanks so much for including my photograph here and giving us a mention – really appreciate it!
I have a lot more shots where there are other kinds of repurposing going on. Literature stations, etc. But I found to make this project anything it took a lot of editing (the ‘removing photos’ kind of editing… vs post processing). Thanks for the comments on specific photos, and hope you two are well.
these are great
I love this photo essay! I just forwarded it to my son, an electrical engineering major, who is fascinated with old phone technology.
At least you've found places where there's at least still one phone. Over here I can't remember seeing one payphone for years 🤔 If I see one I'll take a picture 😉
Check out the third photo on my website: https://joshuaw.com/phones
This one always interested. It was taken at the new Terminal 2 (T2) at the San Francisco airport (SFO) shortly after it opened. The architect designed it for six payphones. But didn’t started until long after payphones began to disappear.
I’ve always wondered why they went forward with that design. My best guess is that an RFP had been written years before (10?) and called for this as an element of the design.
And even though everyone knew it was useless, I’m guessing the process of changing the RFP was harder than just building it and leaving most of them blank.
Anyone involved in major public construction care to comment?
Yeah I think often these buildings take so much time to complete, they are basically already out of date by the time they are commissioned. I've seen this here too with building tunnels etc. After completion, within a year or two they closed again for a major safety upgrade because the equipment used was already out of date :)
Thanks for sharing these! My favorite would be the first one with the “R u charged”. This adds an extra element to the image than if it didn’t have it. It would be harder to capture that one strong image of this subject compared to putting together a series of images about which you would feel less enthusiastic but I still think the later (making the series) is worth doing from viewing your post.
I think (sometimes) sequencing is important.
Good idea for s project. My favourite shot if the one with the broken yellow handset. There's something unsettling about documenting the absence of something. It reminds us that people, like objects, can be disappeared.
I find these really clean and compelling!
Thanks!
Cool idea! I always photograph pay phones when I come across them, but have never thought to look for the places they used to be. Yours tell a compelling story.
Love the “where they were” series of former phone locations. More, please! 😃 Great finds, well done! I also like the shots of phones themselves. All great subject matter, in my opinion!
Wow! Thanks! Your Rotterdam photos — especially Rotterdam in the Abstract — are an inspiration for me — so this means a lot.
😊🙏
Yes Josh!! These are fantastic and reminder of what used to be and your shots give us a sense of these spaces that I believe we used to take for granted and now they don't even know what to do with these spaces anymore. I love your vision and explanation of the pay phones. And your shots of current pay phones are great! Thank you for sharing and putting this out there.
Thanks so much for the nice comments. Now that you've seen these, let me know if you spy similar spaces--especially in newer buildings.
You've done it very well and it's definitively a cohesive and fascinating project. There is poetry in those now empty or repurposed spaces.