#21 Arielle Chan
Arielle Chan is a starting photographer from Montclair currently working on her first-ever project, "5%," documenting teenage vaping addictions within her own high school bathroom. Through a program at the International Center of Photography, she was able to showcase the initial photos in the museum.
"5% is about teenage girls and their addiction to vaping. It's about documenting the addiction in my high school. We see all these anti-vaping ads, and sometimes the commercials are funny, inadvertently encouraging more people to vape. But actually, it's a huge issue, and teenagers are now vaping at younger and younger ages. The focus tends to be on health statistics rather than understanding why girls start vaping in the first place. Since I'm a teenage girl and have friends who vape, I wanted to take advantage of having access to those girls and their stories. So, I would have them write on paper the reasons why they are vaping, and as I'm reading these, I found out they have a lot of shared experiences and troubles. So, I wanted to document it: it started in my high school's girls' bathroom, but over time, they invited me to their homes. I would see literal posters of aliens vaping; it has become this hugely romanticized subject."
Are you comfortable with sharing some of these reasons the girls started vaping?
"Yeah, some of the reasons. For one, it's peer pressure." Arielle takes out a big plastic bag filled with different types of vapes in all the colors and flavors imaginable. "See, they look like toys. Here is even a Hello Kitty vape; it almost resembles a baby bottle. This here is called a crack wire. Girls would get these wires so when their vape dies, they would break it open, rip open the charger to connect the wires, and get it charged. It's like inhaling batteries. You'd be in the bathroom minding your business, and somebody could ask you for a crack wire. There is a certain allure to being part of these groups of pretty girls sitting in circles in one of the stalls vaping. If you weren't considered cool before, this gives you an instant boost. So that's one side. Other times people will have body issues, so there's a joke that would come up where people say, 'What are you having for lunch?' 'I'm having coffee and nic.' Like, come on, that's not okay. And lastly, there are girls with family issues where vaping brings this comfortability."
How do you want to manifest this project?
"Uhm. I was thinking about that. I think this project has been really good for me personally. And I've created a lot of meaningful relationships through it, but I mainly am telling these girls' stories for other people to hear. So it's really important for me to get this out. Through my program, I was able to include this in an exhibition we had at the International Center of Photography, which was really great. It was an awesome experience being able to share this with my peers. But now I want to create a book containing these photos as I keep documenting these girls. While shooting this, most of the girls in the pictures are underage, so when it comes to consent, I need to wait for the girls to become a certain age before I can publish it. Most girls are 16/17 right now. So I'm not pushing to get it out anytime soon."
It will also be interesting to see this as a long-term project, how these stories will evolve.
"I wish I could go to other places and explore the addiction with girls in other locations. These photos are all shot in New Jersey and New York, but last year I met some girls in Venice for an art program. Girls from England, LA, and even Kentucky. So here we are sitting in a room; we're all super different individuals. And I asked them about vaping in their immediate surroundings. They were like, 'Yeah, everybody vapes in our high school bathroom,' and I was like, 'OMG, it's an out-of-state thing?'
I don't foresee the U.S. banning vapes anytime soon, but there might be a societal shift. On TikTok, people currently glamorize vapes in thirst traps, but I believe the cool factor will eventually wear off. It's more of a trend. I hope."
