SMOKIN'
Smokin’ is a meditation on memory, transformation, and the imprint of human habits.
Printed in the 19th-century palladium technique, with added layers of gum bichromate for colour, the images are rendered with intention and permanence offering a stark contrast to the disposable nature of their subjects. This methodical process mirrors the tension
within the work itself: between waste and permanence, attraction and toxicity, familiarity and discomfort.
Part tribute, part continuation, Smokin’ revisits the language in Irving Penn’s Cigarette’s series, updating it for a world now grappling with vaping and e-waste. I hope to spark conversation about how cultural habits persist and mutate, by inviting viewers to reconsider what we throw away, how value is assigned, and how memory lives in the overlooked.