The body language and facial expression conveys exasperation/stress and exhaustion/burnout.
The long shot with the subject’s back against a wall implies escapism, a momentary reprieve.
The voyeurism suggested by the telephoto zoom on an isolated subject implies you are witnessing a secret, internal feeling that they keep from others.
The cigarette as a prop strengthens these interpretations, since it once was a more popular drug for relieving those symptoms and retains the symbolic value in spite of the stigma.
Seeing all the bullshit that’s happening in the world that (as an individual who lives in a different country) you can do very little to aid with is fucking mentally exhausting
So should I read the final image as “ahh, freedom…” or as “I can finally read the truth and now I need a smoke…”?
The body language and facial expression conveys exasperation/stress and exhaustion/burnout.
The long shot with the subject’s back against a wall implies escapism, a momentary reprieve.
The voyeurism suggested by the telephoto zoom on an isolated subject implies you are witnessing a secret, internal feeling that they keep from others.
The cigarette as a prop strengthens these interpretations, since it once was a more popular drug for relieving those symptoms and retains the symbolic value in spite of the stigma.
Edit: split to paragraphs
I read it as just pure exhaustion. The cigarette is to put some nicotine in your system so at least you feel something.
Leaning toward the latter but possibly both.
Yeah it probably depends on how long you’ve been here, now that you put it like that…
Seeing all the bullshit that’s happening in the world that (as an individual who lives in a different country) you can do very little to aid with is fucking mentally exhausting