Not for nothing has been TV been called an “electronic babysitter.” The calm and soothing cathode ray tube (and its successors) has a powerful capacity to induce a state of quiescence in all but the most unruly of children, which is one reason overtaxed parents are often grateful for its effects.

Children in America watch in excess of 24 hours of television per week, which I assume to mean 24 hours of television programming, regardless of the device used to watch it. That doesn’t include the time spent playing video games or surfing the web. It’s a lot of time. Brooklyn-based photographer Donna Stevens recently put together an intriguing and disturbing series of photographs under the heading “Idiot Box” in order to get us to think about televsion’s most eager and impressionable audience: children.

Every shot is taken in a dark room lit only by the glow of the television screen. The camera is positioned near enough to the television set that we can regard it as a TV-POV shot. The portraits emphasize the children’s vacant eyes and unexpressive facial expressions. It’s enough to make you want to research television addiction and its effects.

I’d like to see the same series done with adults!
 

 

 

 

 

 
via PetaPixel