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Tired and lost in the endless scroll of nothingness, I had a feeling that I couldn’t quite describe, perhaps a gnawing sense of detachment would be the best way to put it. One day my partner told me “You need a third place!” A third place? I wasn’t familiar! A quick Google search and it all seemed to click. The "third place" - somewhere that isn’t home or work, a place for community, connection, a sense of belonging. It explained a lot, actually. It’s not like it used to be for previous generations, where community spaces were everywhere. For us, it’s wake up, check your phone, commute whilst staring at your phone, work, come home, and spend the evening... staring at your phone. It’s all become so flat, so predictable. Of course, there’s more to the story here and larger systemic reasons for this shift - for now, just knowing that there is a theory to represent and crystallise how I am feeling is enough.  

 

We were promised that the internet and smartphones would make our lives easier, more connected. Instead, everything feels more fragmented. Authenticity now commodified and sold back to us feels fake. But through these images, I want to prove that third places - real ones, where people can actually connect still exist. They’re out there and thriving. You just have to do a bit of digging.