Brightly colored cigarette ads are prominently displayed in the window in direct view of any child sitting on this horsey ride. There is a twisted irony in having a Marlboro advertisement right beside a toy horse children's ride. Marlboro uses cowboy imagery in much of its advertising campaigns, so the horse might cost the child only 25 cents, but Marlboro might ride a child for all they are worth until they die of lung cancer. Hence I entitled the photo "Ride 'em Cowboy."

I have never smoked and dislike tobacco products very much, which is clearly the reason I shot this photograph. Afterwards it was deliberately cropped into a square thus providing a sense of being trapped in a cigarette box to reflect the feelings of addiction. The dramatic split composition of a colorful top and a dark bottom also intensify the ominous death rising upwards with every breath taken.