This image tells a story, but it is certainly the end of that story. How did our subject come to be holding something so dangerous, I never decided. But I think that's the fun of photography over other mediums, you don't know the whole story, so its up to the viewer to wonder. What do you think happened?
This image was shot on a Fuji Xt-2 with the 56mm1.2. There is a single light off camera left to give a hard dramatic light. The disintegration effect was obviously added later but the challenge was to layer it to look more real. The disintegration effect was actually the whole point of the image. I always though that images using it didn't seem to explore WHY the subject was disintegrating, so I decided to make it very, very clear.
WARNING!!! The gas mask is a soviet GP-5, these are quite easy to source because they were made literally by the millions. If you going to shoot with one then I advise pulling out the air outlet valve so that you can breath in through it as well as out (its located under the chin). Whatever you do don't breath through the air filter itself because these old soviet ones might contain asbestos. If you leave the rubber stopper in place on the filter to block the air flow, make sure there is another way for air to get into the mask. Also be sure to have a friend and a pair of scissors on hand. Because of the all rubber construction, these GP-5 masks can actually suction to your head and become impossible to remove, which can suffocate whoever is wearing them. Remember, do your own research and be careful, getting the shot is never worth risking harm to you or anyone else.