How others see us

I was in London yesterday for a series of meetings.

One was an interview for Austrian television about smoking on Brighton beach. As luck have it the deck chairs were out in Victoria Tower Gardens adjacent to the Houses of Parliament, and so I was filmed strolling through a sea of deck chairs wearing a suit and feel totally out of place.

I told Eva, the Austrian TV reporter, how much I liked Vienna and how much I enjoyed the fact that it was still possible to smoke in Austrian cafes and bars.

After that I was interviewed by Calatina Balan (below).

Catalina wrote to me a few weeks ago. She's Romanian but is currently studying digital documentary at Sussex University in, where else, Brighton:

For my dissertation film I am investigating smoking and cigarettes from an emotional and psychological perspective, with the indention to create a documentary film that also discusses smokers' rights and liberties.

I have been a smoker for 12 years and just decided to take a break from smoking and have started to analyse what cigarettes represent to me beyond the addiction to nicotine.

Being a smoker, especially in the UK one does feel segregated and perhaps patronised by all the rules and regulations, unquestionably more so than when involving industries such as alcohol or food (junk).

Below: filming in London with Catalina Ballan