Endorsing his product

[Art Meripol]

Back in the late 90's I was photographing a story on where and what makes the borders of the South, where the South begins and ends. We explored the gnat line, the magnolia line, grits and many more physical, botanical and emotional borders.
On such border was where tobacco grew. We found what we thought might be the farthest north and west spot where tobacco was farmed in Weston Missouri.
It was a hot day but the light really became wonderful as the sun dropped.
I felt like it all came together in this shot. Not sure but I believe my Nikon FM2 was loaded with Fujichrome Provia

 

[Gary R. Smith]

Great shot Art!

 

[Beth Anthony]

love this, the leading line going from the farmer to the barn to the house makes for an excellent composition. and yes, it distinctly feels like the south. gotta wonder how many cigarettes he's smoked that he helped create.

 

[Paul Taylor]

love this, the leading line going from the farmer to the barn to the house makes for an excellent composition. and yes, it distinctly feels like the south. gotta wonder how many cigarettes he's smoked that he helped create.

Too many, that is how many. Lol.

My parents leased land to tobacco farmers, which I always found hilarious due to the amount of relatives I have had die of the consequences of smoking. Recently my cousin's wife was diagnosed with cancer (she is a non-smoker, but suspect it is a result of second hand smoke) and they held a charity raffle to help the family - and one of the raffle prizes was a wall decoration made from the wood out of a barn where they would dry / process tobacco. It seemed hilariously ignorant/stupid to offer up a carcinogenic infused wall decoration and praise it's smell/odor for your house as a raffle prize to benefit a cancer patient that is in this situation because of the thing that the decoration is celebrating. Having asthma/respiratory issues related to being around smokers as a kid - and now working in healthcare and seeing the cost of such a pointless habit makes me wonder why people these days still do it. The consequence to all this is that I now view people who smoke in a different (unfavorable) way and I will not engage with them at all when I am out at social events or engaging in a hobby. This may be wrong - but I don't feel bad about it at all, and if you are a smoker here my intent isn't to insult.

/rant. Lol.

It is a great pic, that inspires thoughts and discussion about an industry that has been very detrimental to the human race.

 

[Gary Ayala]

Too many, that is how many. Lol.

My parents leased land to tobacco farmers, which I always found hilarious due to the amount of relatives I have had die of the consequences of smoking. Recently my cousin's wife was diagnosed with cancer (she is a non-smoker, but suspect it is a result of second hand smoke) and they held a charity raffle to help the family - and one of the raffle prizes was a wall decoration made from the wood out of a barn where they would dry / process tobacco. It seemed hilariously ignorant/stupid to offer up a carcinogenic infused wall decoration and praise it's smell/odor for your house as a raffle prize to benefit a cancer patient that is in this situation because of the thing that the decoration is celebrating. Having asthma/respiratory issues related to being around smokers as a kid - and now working in healthcare and seeing the cost of such a pointless habit makes me wonder why people these days still do it. The consequence to all this is that I now view people who smoke in a different (unfavorable) way and I will not engage with them at all when I am out at social events or engaging in a hobby. This may be wrong - but I don't feel bad about it at all, and if you are a smoker here my intent isn't to insult.

/rant. Lol.

It is a great pic, that inspires thoughts and discussion about an industry that has been very detrimental.

While I come from a smoke-free family and it is difficult to directly relate to your ... rant. But I do appreciate your thoughts. California state government has worked to make public smoking very difficult and educate all to the dangers of smoking.

UNDO, a non-profit organization has spearheaded much of the anti-tobacco/smoking campaign in California.

From the UNDO website:

"Our work has made an impact​

Lowest​

youth vaping rate in the US​

2nd state​

to end the sale of most flavored tobacco products​

3rd lowest​

adult smoking rate in the US with a 60% decrease in the adult smoking rate​

2 California cities​

have ended the sale of tobacco products​

42% decrease​

in lung cancer rates in California​

1 million +​

lives saved​

$500 billion​

saved in healthcare costs​

$51.4 billion​

kept out of the tobacco industry’s pockets and 15.7 billion fewer packs of cigarettes sold over the past 30 years​

71% decline​

in flavored e-cigarette and 95% decrease in menthol cigarette sales in 2023"​

 

[Paul Taylor]

It has amazed me how many more people I see smoking cigarettes these days , compared to a few years ago. I think (and I could be wrong) that the proliferation of vaping and the legalization of marijuana here has increased cigarette smoking. When the vape or pot runs out (or is out of budget) then they go to the next similar thing (cigarettes.) I think vaping is on the decline - but marijuana is on the upswing.

Luckily here in AZ smoking is banned from most public areas and businesses - but what really annoys me is the car smokers. It will be a beautiful day, and I will have the windows down - and sure enough five or six cars ahead someone is smoking and dangling it out the window, and the stink permeates a giant area. I don't understand why they do this as given the price they should keep the windows up and get the full effect. It also really irritates me when they flick the butt out the window, littering and/or starting a fire during the more dry seasons. It would be spectacular if during my lifetime cigarettes ceased to exist, but we know that won't happen. Lol.