We love technology, but magazine The Atlantic has put together a series of photos which show just how attached we all are to our mobile phones, and will definitely make you think twice about where and how often you use yours. The scenes depicted range from the usual like people crowding around a famous figure to take his photo, to the incredible, such as a devout muslim taking a selfie while on his Hajj pilgrimage. The series really brings home just how bizarre our obsession looks from the outside, and reminds us that even developing countries, historical sites, and religious spots aren’t exempt. See if any of these scenes look familiar to you.
U.S. soldiers take pictures of President Barack Obama after he delivered a speech at U.S. military base Yongsan Garrison in Seoul, South Korea, on April 26, 2014. Reuters/Lee Jin-man.
A man holds his phone up in an attempt to get a better phone signal in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on November 26, 2014. Karam Al-Masri/AFP/Getty Images.
Miss Nord-Pas-de-Calais Camille Cerf takes a selfie with her smartphone, surrounded by photographers, after winning the Miss France 2015 beauty contest on December 6, 2014 in Orleans. Guillaume Souvant/AFP/Getty Images.
Thousands of demonstrators hold up their cell phones as they protest against an Internet tax planned to be introduced by the Hungarian government, in front of the Ministry of National Economy in Budapest, Hungary, on October 26, 2014. Inscription reads: « Mafia government ». AP Photo/Laszlo Beliczay, MTI.
A penitent called “Morion” checks his mobile phone in Mogpog town on Marinduque island in central Philippines on April 14, 2014.
Members of the Guarani Nandeva tribe stand guard at the entrance to one of the 14 farms they have been occupying for the past 78 days, claiming they are part of the ancestral land called Tekoha Yvy Katu, in the Japora municipality of Mato Grosso do Sul state, near the southern border with Paraguay, on December 18, 2013. Reuters/Lunae Parracho.
A North Korean soldier uses her mobile phone next to a sentry on the banks of the Yalu River, near the North Korean town of Sinuiju, opposite the Chinese border city of Dandong, on June 1, 2014. Reuters/Jacky Chen.
Country music artist Taylor Swift takes a selfie with a fan as she arrives at the 49th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards in Las Vegas, Nevada, on April 6, 2014. Reuters/Steve Marcus.
An internally displaced young Afghan man looks at his mobile phone in a camp in Kabul, Afghanistan, on December 24, 2014. Thousands of Afghans are pouring into makeshift camps in the capital where they face a harsh winter as the Taliban return to areas once cleared by foreign forces, who this week marked the end of their combat mission. AP Photo/Massoud Hossaini.
A relative shows a picture of passengers who were traveling on missing Malaysian air carrier AirAsia flight QZ8501 on her mobile phone screen at the airport in Surabaya, East Java, on December 28.
Girls walk with their cell phones along the beach at twilight during the Labor Day long weekend in Ft. Myers Beach, Florida, on August 31, 2014. Reuters/Carlo Allegri.
Mobile devices as artifacts. A collection of cellphones and communication devices discovered in the rubble from the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center are displayed as part of a new exhibit marking the 10th anniversary of the attacks, at the Newseum in Washington, D.C., as seen August 31, 2011.
A man takes a self-portrait with his mobile phone in front of a statue of China’s late Chairman Mao Zedong at an art exhibition celebrating the upcoming 120th anniversary of the birthday of the former leader in Beijing on December 24, 2013.
Transceiver equipment for mobile communication is mounted on top of an artificial palm tree near a venue of the Sochi 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, on October 7, 2013.
US actor Sylvester Stallone shows a selfie picture he took ringside, prior to the boxing match between Jessie Vargas of the US and his Mexican rival Antonio DeMarco at the Cotai Arena in Macau on November 23, 2014. Xaume Olleros/AFP/Getty Images.
A penitent of San Gonzalo brotherhood holds a mobile phone under his hood as he takes part in a Holy Week procession in the Andalusian capital of Seville, southern Spain, on April 14, 2014. Reuters/Marcelo del Pozo.
A model prepares backstage before at the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week show in Mexico City on November 12, 2012.
Muhibija Buljubasic, 56, poses for photo with cutlery and a Samsung Galaxy S4 phone on his body and head in Srebrenik, February 23, 2014. Buljubasic says that he discovered five years ago that he had the unusual ability to attach items to his body by radiating a special energy. Without making any special preparation, he claims he was able to hold on to spoons, forks, knives and other kitchen appliances, as well as non-metal objects like remote controls and cell phones.
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd employees and executives use their mobile phones to take pictures as they arrive for the company’s initial public offering (IPO) under the ticker « BABA » at the New York Stock Exchange in New York September 19, 2014. Reuters/Brendan McDermid.
A racegoer uses the camera on her phone to check her hair on the opening day of the Grand National Festival at Aintree Racecourse on April 3, 2014 in Aintree, England.
A doctor uses a smartphone to record a photo of a child with facial deformity before surgery at the Vietnam Cuba hospital in Hanoi on November 18, 2014. Reuters/Kham.
A Muslim pilgrim prays as another takes a photo with his mobile phone at the Grand Mosque during Tawaf al-Wadaa (Farewell Tawaf) on the last day of the annual haj pilgrimage in the holy city of Mecca on October 29, 2012. Reuters/Amr Abdallah Dalsh.
Protestors and student demonstrators hold up their cellphones in a display of solidarity during a protest outside the headquarters of Legislative Council in Hong Kong on September 29, 2014.
Tanzanian porters and guides stand on a rock half way up Mount Kilimanjaro at sunset on September 21, 2014 trying to get a mobile phone signal to call their wives. Two teams were taking part in a grueling eight-day trek up the vast extinct volcano, to play a full Twenty20 game in the ice-covered crater just below its rugged peak, at 5,785 meters (19,000 feet). Peter Martell/AFP/Getty Images.
A visually-impaired Indian athlete uses his mobile phone held at a very close distance from his eye on the sidelines of the inaugural National Judo championship for the blind in New Delhi on January 6.
Visitors take photos with their mobile phones at the Inca citadel of Machu Picchu in Cusco on December 2.
Amber Rose takes a selfie as she arrives at The People Magazine Awards at the Beverly Hilton hotel on December 18, 2014, in Beverly Hills, California. Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP.
Bystanders stand around and photograph the body of a suspected Ebola victim lying in a street in the town of Koidu, Kono district in Eastern Sierra Leone, on December 18, 2014. Baz Ratner/Reuters.
The face of Pope Francis is obscured by mobile phones held up as he arrives to lead a special audience for Vatican employees and their families at the Paul VI’s hall at the Vatican on December 22.
Visitors raise their cameras and mobile phones in front of Dutch master Rembrandt’s famous artwork The Night Watch painting to take pictures of Sweden’s King Carl Gustaf and Queen Silvia, with Dutch King Willem Alexander and Queen Maxima during their visit to the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, Netherlands, on April 5, 2014. AP Photo/Peter Dejong.
Models wait backstage during Ukrainian Fashion Week in Kiev on October 15, 2014. Reuters/Gleb Garanich.
Onlookers take pictures of stranded window washers hanging from scaffolding on the side of One World Trade Center on November 12.
Audience members photograph Brazilian model Gisele Bundchen as she walks, holding the hands of designers Jeziel Moraes (L) and Adriana Zucco (R) on stage after presenting a creation from the Colcci Winter 2014 collection during Sao Paulo Fashion Week on October 31, 2013.
A woman uses a smartphone in front of the city skyline in Seoul at dusk on March 21, 2014. Ed Jones/AFP/Getty Images.
A couple takes a selfie while kissing in Kiev, Ukraine, on April 10, 2008.
An Iraqi Christian, who asked not to be named, poses for a photograph in her tented home erected in the grounds of Mazar Mar Eillia Catholic Church, that has become home to hundreds of fellow Iraqi Christians who were forced to flee their homes – many with less than an hour to do so – as the ISIS militants advanced, on December 13 in Erbil, Iraq. Asked, after her family, what was the one thing she could not leave behind as ISIS advanced on her home, the student from Qaraqosh said her mobile phone, held here.
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