The Beauty of an Ugly Addiction

Frieke Janssens, a young Belgian born photographer brings a creative touch to the art of photography. Nurturing her passion which started from the young age of 15, she works on images of lifestyle and individuals in society while trying her best to avoid clichés. She works with an eye for detail, humour and surrealism.

2 year-old Ardi Rizal is photographed smoking a cigarette.

One of her most controversial and talked about pieces is “Smoking Kids”.  

The inspiration and idea for this project came from a viral video on YouTube featuring an Indonesian toddler who started smoking at the tender age of 18 months, and reported smoking a staggering amount of two packs a day. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4c_wI6kQyE) 

Janssens states that 'the video highlighted the cultural differences between the east and west, and questioned notions of smoking being a mainly adult activity’. Adult smokers are the societal norm, so her intent was to point the viewers to the issue of smoking itself, and not the smoker.  

She carefully chose children for her portraits dressed in traditional 1920’s wear, as Victorian missionaries and British schoolmistresses. Using a dull background and surrounded by a haze of smoke, they were photographed performing the rituals of a smoker - forcing out smoke through the nose, lighting one cigarette with another, or mouthing smoke rings.

As beautiful as these children are, the expressions on their faces are sad and sickly. She has made beautiful, innocent, and pure children portray a sad and unhealthy look. Although they represent the faces of innocence and beauty, some people may find the cigarettes lingering between their fingers or pipes hovering between their lip deeply disturbing.

The photographer did not use real cigarettes during the shoot. Instead, she relied on sticks of chalk or cheese for props, and used candles and incense to create the smoke.

On her website, she states: 'I felt that seeing children smoke would have a surreal impact on the viewer and compel them to truly see the acts of smoking rather than making assumptions about the person doing it.'

In regards to the styling of the photographs, she explains: 'the culture around smoking has a retro feel. It’s like a throw back to the ‘Mad Men’ era when smoking on a plane or in a restaurant was not unusual.'

She added: 'there is a nod to less attractive aspects, on the line between the beauty and ugliness of smoking.

She intended to show that the addiction, while often unattractive, can also be the opposite, and can appear regal or sophisticated.

The unsettling photographs have the capacity to warn against the unhealthy habit as well as warning smokers against lighting up in front of their children.

A critic familiar with the artist states: 'by portraying adults as children all the attention went to the smoking. An adult would draw to much attention to the portrayed person. Thus these portraits evoke question such as: is the smoking ban the right way to get rid of an absurd addiction and are smokers treated like little kids who can’t make the difference between good and bad?'

By:  Hina Parmar, Campus Program Coordinator