Mobile devices are a widespread obsession here in the Philippines, and not just among teens. 20 years ago, hardly anybody out here in the provinces even had a telephone, much less a camera. We used to drive 2 hours to make a phone call. Now, everybody walks around with their head down, texting. Given the traffic here, it seems rather hazardous.
20 years ago I captured the quintessential photo of rural life here: a guy with a cone-shaped wicker hat, machete hanging from a rope at his waist, walking his karibow (water buffalo) through a rice field. Recently I snapped a more contemporary scene: same guy, but with a baseball cap and AC/DC t-shirt, sitting on a berm in a rice field, texting.