'White Filter' from Smoking Kids - Frieke Janssens

Smoking Kids" is the title of the somewhat controversial photo project by Frieke Janssens. Fifteen children between the ages of four and nine pose for the camera in a surprisingly mature way and each smoke a cigarette, cigar, or pipe. They look like they came straight out of a 1960s TV show, which gives an unassuming theatrical, retro quality, but also something whimsical and surreal to the images. The effect of these photographs on the viewer has proven to be both overwhelming and diverse.

Over the past twenty years, Frieke Janssens has built up a solid reputation in the field of staged photography. Her imagery is both surprising and playful and betrays a great sense of humor. It is often imbued with tension, and her works exude an unspoken, tragic undercurrent. Janssens' images are lushly beautiful but touch on subjects that are not: death, smoking, drinking, and the battle between the sexes.