In his long-term series The UBER Impact, photographer Matthew Joseph explores the social impact of technological change on people's everyday lives. For the project, he travelled to London, New York, Paris, Rome, Johannesburg and Cape Town, where he met taxi drivers and documented their experiences following Uber's arrival in their cities.
The resulting body of work examines change, adaptation and the often-overlooked human consequences of technological innovation. The drivers portrayed in the series speak about shifting working conditions, economic pressure and the challenges that accompany the digital transformation of traditional business models.
With The UBER Impact, Matthew Joseph focuses not on the technology itself but on the people whose lives have been reshaped by it. The project has been published internationally and received significant media attention for its nuanced perspective on the human cost of disruption.
Reflecting on the project today, Matthew Joseph says: "I had to dig back into this project recently and it was so interesting to look at a few years down the road and seeing how Uber basically won the battle, but I still feel they didn’t completely destroy the age-old love of a personal, local taxi service. As we speed forward into the age of uncertainty, an era defined by rapid technological change - this project feels like the beginning of a much larger narrative: How overlooked are the human consequences of innovation at all costs? I feel they’re rarely discussed (or properly considered) in the board rooms of Silicon Valley. But I could be wrong!"
Photographer Matthew Jones is represented by the Hamburg-based agency UPFRONT Photo & Film.
