This series was taken over several years in Paris and New York. I lived in both places for a long time. The topic arose more or less by chance: I noticed that on one or the other older photo people were still smoking while this almost no longer occurs in newer photos. The reason is that smoking in public spaces is becoming increasingly taboo and has therefore largely disappeared from the photographer's view. Today the smoking rate is falling and smokers are sent outside everywhere or isolated in separate smoking rooms. But, for a long time, smokers were present in large numbers in the cityscape; the cigarette or cigar in the corner of the mouth was considered an accessory - it almost created identity and style - not at least through countless Hollywood films: For much of film history, the cigarette was part of it and a symbol of masculinity and rebellion. Before the blue haze has finally cleared away, I have put together a little story of smoking. The selected images show smoking strollers, connoisseurs and addicts in every place - in a bar, on the street, in the backyard, in the park. Therewith I would like to create a photographic monument to this "dying out species".