Looking at three photos in depth- Photo 2: The allure of smoking

The allure of smoking:

Another aspect of the work I am looking at is the allure and sexiness of smoking which is portrayed and favoured by a range of photographers. First of all, I found a lot of these photos originated from photographers who purposefully captured very vintage style photos with teenagers who poured out this aura of youth and bliss. They revealed smoking in a way which appears attractive and sexy but ignores the harm and damage it truly does. Instead, it seems part of this ‘false, ideal utopia’ that all the models are living in. This photo below by Solveig Selj did just that. Selj herself is inspired by a simplistic variety of ‘evocative music’, ‘playful designers’ and a ‘feminine photographic style’. Although I didn’t choose a lot of her photos, there were a couple which entwined with the selection of pictures I seemed to constantly be picking out. The one below was the perfect depiction of smoking that I wanted to photograph; the kind of smoking which seemed so sexy and cool it weaved a sticky web of deception in which we all got stuck in. By choosing an attractive model slouching back in high fashion clothes, varying from furs, laces, leathers, dolly dresses and peter pan collars painted with an expression of broody yet charming sexiness which oozes ease and hides in a frame of silver smoke, any teenage girl truly couldn’t say that doesn’t look ‘cool’ and cool is what any teenager wants to be. Therefore we become the flies tangled in the web of deceit seeing only this beautiful image of smoking but not seeing the truth which wisps away from pursed lips. That in itself is exactly what I want to draw up in my photos: the allure, the addiction and the truth.