Photography has long been my medium for exploring the intersection of history, personal experience, health and environmental awareness. My current body of work is a continuation of Irving Penn’s iconic ‘Cigarettes’ series—a project that has resonated with me since I first encountered it. Unbeknownst to me at the time, Penn created his series in the same month and year that I was born. Fifty-two years later, I find myself retracing his steps, capturing the remnants of a global habit that persists, albeit in new and in more harmful forms.

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The tobacco epidemic is a critical global health threat, causing over 8 million deaths annually, with more than 7 million from direct tobacco use and 1.3 million from second-hand smoke exposure. This crisis is particularly severe in low and middle-income countries, where approximately 80% of the 1.3 billion tobacco users reside. Tobacco use not only exacerbates health issues but also drives poverty by diverting household spending away from essential needs, driven by its highly addictive nature.

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My photography focuses on the discarded cigarette butts, vapes, and joints that litter our streets, often overlooked yet omnipresent. These small, seemingly insignificant objects are harbingers of a larger environmental crisis. Cigarette butts, with their toxic plastics and chemicals, continue to be one of the most pervasive forms of litter, with only one-third of the 18 billion smoked daily being properly disposed of. Vapes, which contain hazardous lithium-ion batteries and toxic metals, present an even greater threat as they are often not recycled, contributing to the more than 50 million tonnes of electronic waste generated globally each year. 

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Living across the street from a high school, I began collecting these items a few years ago, initially drawn to the brightly colored vapes discarded by students. It was the juxtaposition of their vibrant colours against the filth of the streets that caught my eye—a paradoxical beauty that is both disturbing and captivating. This series is not just a tribute to Penn’s work, but a modern commentary on the ongoing environmental and health impact of these disposable items. How could I not continue this narrative and bring greater awareness to what these small, discarded pieces of waste are doing to our health of us and the planet?

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In homage to Penn, I am printing these photographs using the same 19th-century platinum/palladium technique that he employed, but with an added layer of gum bichromate (pigment) to infuse the images with colour. My hope is these photographs mirror the complexity of the subject matter itself—beautiful yet toxic, simple yet devastating.

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Through this work, I aim to evoke emotion and spark conversation about the overlooked consequences of our everyday actions. The waste we create today will haunt the environment for generations, and it is my hope that these images will prompt viewers to reconsider their relationship with these everyday objects and the world around them.

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Michelle Leone Huisman 
(Written) 2024