The great thing about a Bank Holiday weekend is that it gives me a chance to catch up on the exhibitions or interesting places that I have on a list to visit. One of these places is often my home town of Bradford as that’s where the fantastic National Media Museum resides, which is a place you can always rely on to have some interesting and thought-provoking exhibits.

Recently, various news sites highlighted a report conducted by Ofcom (The Independent regulator and competition authority for the UK communications industries) which stated that Consumers are spending almost half (45 per cent) of their waking hours watching TV, using their mobiles and other communications devices. You can read the full report here.

At the same time I was hearing this news I also heard about an artist called Robbie Cooper and an exhibition of his called Immersion, which is showing in Bradford until September 5th. Inspired by watching teenagers absorbed in computer games in Chinese internet cafés, Cooper’s portraits capture everyday people as they become immersed in different types of media. Shooting through the screen, these images are single frames taken from high-definition video footage. Filming long periods of video helps Cooper’s models to forget they’re being photographed and results in natural moments of unguarded behaviour.

As you take a look at his photographs you’ll discover the many ways in which people choose to disengage from everyday life, from children watching television to people living out second lives through online virtual worlds. The technique used by Robbie Cooper for Immersion is inspired by a method developed by documentary filmmaker Errol Morris. Known as the Interrotron method, Morris used the process to interview people directly through the camera lens and take his pictures.

If you get a chance to see Immersion you won’t regret it, it really is a fascinating insight into how immersed people get while they are consuming media. You can see the photographs online here, but hopefully Immersion is touring so it should be appearing at a gallery near you. Or you can watch the video below!

Tags: Art Exhibition, Bradford, Errol Morris, Immersion, Interrotron Method, Manchester Advertising Agency, Manchester Design Agency, Marketing Agency, National Media Museum, Ofcom, Photography, Photography Exhibition, Portraits, Robbie Cooper, SEO Company

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