With the work Smoke, the young Swedish photographer Theo Elias won the second edition of the Book Dummy Award organised by the Spanish publisher La Fabrica and the international photography festival Photo London. In the summer of 2011 the creator travelled to the north of Sweden, fleeing from his daily life and dreaming about the idea of creating a new identity for himself in an unknown territory. Solitude enabled him to discover other lives and share tobacco and conversations with strangers over the long and light Nordic nights. After many journeys, years and shared cigarettes, the story of Smoke took shape, becoming the record of something that no longer exists, or that perhaps never existed, through dramatic black and white images full of contrasts and force.
