In Class Free Write: Analyzing Visuals

In this picture you attention is initially drawn to the age of the girl smoking a cigarette. Without knowledge of the title, "Candy cigarette" you would initially think that this young girl was smoking. This is alarming because she looks to be about twelve years old, which is obviously too young to be smoking. My attention first goes to the young girl smoking because it is the brightest thing on the page. The picture is black and white with a lot of shadowing. The young girl smoking glows in a white dress, which makes her stand out compared to the background. Her stance also draws the reader to her with a type of attiude she is giving off.

That inital point of vision connects with the entire picture. After the first initial look at the picture you see another dark figure to the right of the photograph is an even younger girl with her back to the camera. You follow the girls face down to her hand where she is holding the cigarette and then you continue onto the younger darker figure. The only other white light in the picture is the sky, which gives the idea that this picture is probably taken at sun down or sun set. Perhaps these girls are sneaking off with their parents or older syblinings cigarettes or perhaps not. Another white figure in the background appears to be another girls body. It could just be lighting that looks in the shape of a body, but to me it almost looks like a body handing from the trees. This could be foreshadowing of what cigarettes could do to the future and health of this young girl smoking.

This image appeals emotionally because it is very rare to see such a young girl smoking. It also is almost shocking because you think of youth and young and vibrant and healthy. You do not think of attitude and defiance and smoking. This picture could stand for a variety of things. It could be an add against smoking or it could be an add for candy cigarettes. This works for an add against smoking because it shows a young girl smoking which has a shock value to it. If this is an add for candy cigarettes then it probably did not take place in America because I think the American public would not take a young girl smoking very lightly. This appears to be more of a European add. The girl even looks a little European. The purpose of this image could be its shock value in general. The shock value could really open the eyes of America to the rising epidemic of smoking. On the other hand if the audience knew this was candy then maybe they would think that they girl looked beautiful and sexy, which would appeal young girls trying to achieve this image.