Now, please do not view this as en endorsement of either tobacco products or child proximity to thereof, but we’re having trouble looking away from these photographs of smoking kids by Frieke Janssens! Theatrically costumed and staged, children aged four to nine puff and pose with all the “glamour” of their stereotypes: The tiny disheveled housewife blowing rings of smoke, the tough boy big shot dragging on a fat cigar stump, the shameless little gal donning olde cinema drag with a vintage cigarette holder… Yes, it’s a bit disturbing, like Nir Hod’s paintings of elegant smoking boys, but compelling nonetheless.
Spotted by Neatorama, photo series The Beauty of an Ugly Addiction is Janssens’ response to the viral phenomenon of the two-year-old Indonesian nicotine addict and Belgium’s relatively new smoking bans. She asks, does this ban treat adults like children who can’t willfully decide whether or not to partake in this horribly harmful habit? What is it about smoking, aside from the obvious addictive content, that draws people in? Is it its image from film noir? Is it the appeal of its performative consumption, that mannerism or pose that seems to imbue a smoker with a particular sort of character? Flip through some melancholy, surreal portraits of precocious kids in our slide show and stick around for the behind-the-scenes video.
Photo credit: Frieke Janssens
Comments (7)
Love this!
you forgot to tell that somebody did one trully book with TEENAGE SMOKERS. (Teenage Smokers by Ed Templeton)
You’re a bunch of twisted evil losers
“Now we’re not endorsing children smoking or anything, but here are some cool pictures of children smoking!”
Idiots.
when all else fails; use children.
I really really think you guys are missing the boat on this one. The whole point of these images are to be somewhat unsettling and to create an artistic statement. It’s not as though these are artistic endorsements of underage tabacco use. Much the opposite in my opinion. It shows how ludicrous the association of “sexy film noir” and smoking is, not to mention it’s effect on children. It’s quite profound and beautiful to me. If you think this is just a photo series about children smoking, you’re viewing it with a very shallow perspective.
I’m sorry, but these pictures look cool. And they making smoking cool… people need to get off their high horses. Smoking CAN be/look cool, depending on the smoker.
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