Martin Brent - Great Britain - Dirty Mouth boy

© Martin Brent Sony World Photography Awards 2010
3428-139139

UK National Health service ad warning of the dangers of smoking contraband cigarettes.

Comment from Martin Brent
“The images entered into the Awards were shot for the UK COI for an NHS and H M Customs advertising campaign warning of the dangers of buying contraband cigarettes. We were genuinely shocked to find out that they are frequently counterfeit and the list of ingredients found in these ciggies is absolutely terrifying and formed the basis of the shot.
The bugs, rats and smoke were 100 per cent real, although clinically clean and actually edible in the case of the worms, water beetles and crickets. Our models really went the extra mile to make these shots as effective as they are.
Although some digital post-production has been employed, the revulsion of the models was real and hardly surprising. I have to admit I’ve not looked at a packet of cigarettes in the same way since I shot this campaign! It was important that the visual would cross all boundaries of race and sex: the message had to be shocking yet relevant to anyone who saw it.”