Bad Babies Part One: Smoking
Frieke Janssens has taken some pretty interesting photographs of children smoking.
"Children tend to be portrayed as adorable little darlings in works of art (even if they possess faces only a mother could love*). This mini series of short blog posts is dedicated to showcasing those artists whose young subjects are less sugar, spice and all things nice and more slugs, snails and puppy-dog’s tails.
After watching this video (a) of a chain-smoking Indonesian baby (now most probably a chain-smoking toddler) Belgian photographer Frieke Janssens was inspired to create this series Smoking Kids.
Children smoking seems, for most of us, a shocking spoiling of innocence. The film, shot as a factual portrait, highlights an Eastern departure from the West where smoking is a risky hobby taken up only by adults.
The photographs mimic grown-up smoking stereotypes: the bored housewife (b), the sergeant major (c), and the celebrity diva (d). Janssens’ miniature muses are casual and glamourous little criminals, reminiscent of a child breaking in to mum’s wardrobe to stumble out in too-big stilettos.
Janssens also looked to the aesthetics of those alluring plumes of white smoke from album covers (e) and movies (f), and the celebrities (g) who have been encouraging us to light up for years. Young smokers aren’t put off by ‘bad guys’ who smoke, in fact an aloof persona makes smoking all the more appealing.
Ultimately, Janssens’ cutesy project reminds us that our vices are transferrable to the impressionable, next generation." - Taken from the Saatch blog (link here)
All photos by Frieke Janssens. To see more of her work on her website, click here (I highly recommend it).