Do you remember what it was like before you could check emails or listen to music on your phone?

I was given my first phone when I was 13 and it was a Philips Savvy Vogue. I remember the excitement of making a call without a cord, but also the pain of pestering my mum to let me use the dial-up connection to chat on MSN Messenger.

Life before smartphones: 'It was OK to be vague about things' Read more

Things are different now. The online world is literally at our fingertips - emails are a mere swipe away and videos are accesible with a touch.



But what are your memories of life before smartphones? Did you have more face-to-face conversations? How do you think life differed between then and now? Do you think people are happier now? What has been lost - if anything?

Photographer Eric Pickersgill’s series shows people without their phones and tablets resulting in phantom-like portraits of adults and children staring at their hands. Their ‘lifelines’ lost as their connection with the world is severed. If you have any stories or images of what it was like before smartphones, we’d like to hear from you.



Facebook Twitter Pinterest A photo from Eric Pickersgill’s series ‘Removed’ Photograph: Eric Pickersgill

You can share your photos and memories by clicking on the blue ‘Contribute’ buttons. Or if you’re out and about you can download the Guardian app and search for ‘GuardianWitness assignments’. We’ll include the most interesting on the Guardian site.

