Between the five images that are shown, the messaged displayed is that smoking is harmful and overall has a bad connotation. When smoking gets brought up to someone that smokes on a regular basis, these images have little impact on them. If any of these pictures were portrayed in a way that made smoking look fun and enjoyable, a whole different message would be introduced. Many ads today are trying to encourage our generation to end smoking completely. Some photos that are used for this topic, anti-smoking, could be used for other topics. They have different interpretations. Through these different photos, color, shadows, different angles, and just different types of images are used to portray the idea that smoking is amiss.

It is commonly said: it takes just one and then you’re addicted. In the first image, everything is in black and white except for the flame. The color makes the detail of the flame emphasized more than any other element in the image. In this photo, the viewer could see it as if this is the first of many times lighting a cigarette. If the picture was presented in a different way, such as in all color or all black and white, the same message would not have been given off. The woman in the picture doesn’t have much detail on her face because the background and contrast is very dark. This effect pulls the attention off of her and more towards the flame and the cigarette. All of the darkness could also represent emotions like sadness or depression. If there were bright colors all over the picture, the viewer would assume that nothing is out of the ordinary and smoking is acceptable and healthy.

Out of all five of the pictures, the second picture has the strongest message. Looking at the image, the most prominent element is the shadow of a gun. Although, a gun is not pictured. The shadow is created by a hand holding a cigarette. This gives off the message that smoking will kill you just like a gun. The only colors that are used are black and white. By doing this, the author of the photo wants you to focus more on the shadow than the actual hand.  The gun is a metaphor to smoking.

When watching any positive commercial on TV, the viewer sees that mostly everyone shown is perfect and happy. In the image with the woman smoking, blemishes can be seen on her face. The cigarette is crushed and burned all the way to the butt. From what can be seen, the woman has no expression on her face, which gives off a negative connotation of smoking. When seeing people in a mundane state doing something, it makes other viewers less likely to do it. Most pictures or ads that have to do with tobacco use make the actors or models look upset or they are chronically injured. This pushes viewers away from using these products.

The hour glass image has multiple meanings. Smoking takes time off of someone’s life for many medical reasons. As referred to in the previous paragraph, many people advertised as smokers have something chronically wrong with them. This is a common thing to happen when someone smokes most of their life. In the hour glass shown, the man is drowning in his own time and there’s nothing he can do to slow time down. He’s stuck. The hour glass is a metaphor for how people feel when they’re trying to quit smoking tobacco. The man looks frightened and is panicking. He is portrayed as a younger looking man, which is when people usually pick up the habit of smoking. The viewer can assume that the hour glass gets smaller as the person gets older since time is being taken off your life.

A simple image of an eraser head completely chewed up is presented. At any school, pencils lacking erasers are frequently seen. As previously stated in the paragraph talking about the hour glass image, most people that smoke develop the habit when they’re younger, such as in high school or college. This photo only shows the top of the pencil which resembles a cigarette butt, crushed and completed. Smoking causes stress and stress leads one to smoke another cigarette to calm down.

The last two pictures shown are there to point out the effects that tobacco use has on the environment and society. Littering is a major problem with cigarettes which makes most areas look messy and dirty. In the image with the cigarette laying on the sidewalk, the sidewalk and the rocks in the crack are almost an off white color. The cigarette butt is a solid white color. The brightness and the angle of it catches the viewer’s eye right when he/she looks at the image. In the photo of the cigarettes in the plant, the only part that’s focused in on is the cigarettes. Seeing stuff like this makes the viewer unsettled because the littering is destroying nature. Some people don’t even think about the harm that just throwing cigarette butts onto the ground and into plants can do. As a long term effect, the air around us is polluted from the smoke and plant growth can be stunted from the non-organic cigarettes. Not only are human’s effected by tobacco use, but the environment is also.

Smoking used to be a favorable pastime, but recently that has changed in many people’s opinions. Some smoking ads get right to the point saying “Don’t smoke, it’s bad” while others have underlying meanings that could have a much larger effect if actually looked into. Through the pictures that have been chosen, the viewer can see photos that directly and indirectly talk about smoking. The images that directly talk about smoking mostly use colors or focusing techniques to bring out what’s most important in the picture. In the images that are more indirect when talking about smoking, symbols are used to bring out the meaning of the image. 
