In April, the refurbished technology brand Back Market explored how the planet has changed between the launch of the iPhone 3G and the iPhone 16. Ice-free glaciers or desert lakes were the striking images that illustrated the impact of fast technology, or fast tech, on the environment. Now the company once again denounces the effects of excessive consumption of electronic devices looking towards the future.
The initiative “The Last Shot Gallery”, worked together with the agency Words and Pixels, projects what the world will be like when photographed by iPhones from model 89 to 92. Thus, through a series of images that reflect the before and after, imagine what places like Venice or Central Park (New York) will look like in the future if global levels of electronic waste do not begin to reduce.
Back Market has collaborated with artists and scientists to generate the recreations. As the company has shared, climate modeling technology has been used to predict the potential damage to each emblematic place that has been portrayed, subsequently giving the artists access to this data to inform their final work.
Thus, imagine what the Rialto Bridge in Venice would look like in 75 years with a work by artists Archie McGrath and Josiah Naguar. Mount Kilimanjaro reinterpreted by artist Hugh Jardine; the sacred temple of Kinkaku-Ji as seen by Alice Garrard; the Iguazú Falls in South America or the Cliffs of Dover in England are other images that could be seen in the exhibition that the brand has held in a gallery in the Fitzrovia neighborhood, in London.
“The Last Shot Gallery” seeks to show users how the culture of constant technological updating is damaging the planet, since it causes millions of obsolete devices to end up unnecessarily in electronic waste landfills. According to the brand, a record 62 million tons of electronic waste was produced in 2022, and it is one of the fastest growing waste streams in the world.
The brand hopes that the initiative will help users become aware of the impact of excessive electronics consumption on the environment and that it will help large technology companies realize that there are other ways to generate income besides the constant launch of new devices. In this sense, the action highlights reconditioned technology, which is more respectful of the environment.
“Constant updates, planned obsolescence, devices that “sell out” just when the new model drops…The Last Shot Gallery shows how our obsession with technology is impacting the planet“commented Luke Forshaw, Brand and Marketing Director of Back Market in the United Kingdom, via LinkedIn. “But the good news? Repair, reuse, and smarter choices are how we reject fast technology. Your updating habit doesn’t have to cost the planet”.
