This is the second of two back-to-back images that feature similar subjects, yet in entirely different contexts.

In the previous image ( http://www.pbase.com/image/78566604 ) we saw a smoker backed into a concrete corner.
This image gives us a man on a park bench, blowing a plume of smoke into the air. He lives in a senior citizens residence, and can’t smoke in his room. And so, a park becomes his parlor. He sits instead of stands. He holds his cigarette high, instead of low. He rests his other hand on the back of the bench, instead of holding it close to his body. He seems utterly relaxed. The bench, trees, and green grass become the context for this image. He seems to take genuine pleasure in this moment. We have photographed essentially the same activity as in the previous image, but largely because of context, the story here becomes an entirely different one. As I note in the introduction to this gallery, photographic context is the great clarifier. To see something in context is to better understand it. If we take something out of its context, it will change the meaning entirely.