Larry Clark's 1971 photographic book documents his three-year methamphetamine binge with his friends. It is disturbingly honest - many of the images featuring his friends shooting up speed in partial nudity (or completely nude) and their drug induced orgies.
The images are disturbing for their raw reality - Clark has an amazing ability to put the viewer in the room with him and his friends. What is crucial in making none of the images appear at all staged or posed, is that not once in the book do any of the subjects' make eye contact with the camera lens, and us, the viewers looking over Clark's shoulder.
Clark's work relies on the shock factor. However this being said he is giving us an honest insight into this period of his life - which frankly is shocking. He makes no apparent effort to make it any more shocking than it actually is - which makes it all the more disturbing.
It was proclaimed by the Dick Cheverton of the Detroit Press as ‘A devastating portrait of an American tragedy’. He goes on further to accurately gauge the book saying, ‘it is the light – light that comes in cold and New England hard (or Oklahoma vague) into a barren room occupied by an anonymously pregnant woman, beautiful, waiting, a needle in her arm.’ Published with this post is the image; but I think that without visual evidence of that – the description alone is enough to send shivers down one’s spine.
Larry Clark’s images are unapologetic, unorthodox, completely uncensored and chilling to the core. All this being said he is my favourite documentary photographer, my favourite filmmaker, and a man who I see as an all-round revolutionary. He makes it near impossible for anyone to shock the public with their work in quite the same way he has – and go down a legend whilst doing it.
No comments:
Post a Comment