High Concept, N2O Division

Fashion photography burned through its easy provocations some time ago—models submerged in swimming pools fully clothed, ketchup and mustard as styling choices, the usual escalation. The latest entry: Vice filled balloons with nitrous oxide, had their models inhale them, then brought in photographer Maciek Pozoga to document the aftermath. The results are predictably funny—that specific glazed, somewhere-else expression that N2O produces within about thirty seconds—but also weirdly honest, which is not a quality you expect from a fashion shoot.

Looking at the photos, I felt nostalgic in the specific way you do when something reminds you of a beginning. Laughing gas at a fairground, years ago, before any of us had any real idea what was coming next. There’s something almost innocent about it. Almost.