Larry Clark

Biography

American, b. 1943, Tulsa, Oklahoma, based in Oklahoma

Influential photographer, writer, and filmmaker Larry Clark is known for his raw, at times controversial, images and films exploring teen sexuality, violence, and drug use. He achieved recognition with the 1971 book Tulsa, following the lives of three drug-using friends from idealism and ecstasy to trauma. In his series of photographs Teenage Lust (1983), Clark took portraits of male hustlers in Times Square, exposing the vulnerabilities of adolescent masculinity. In the 1990s, Clark began to take his narrative approach into feature film (as in his 1995 film Kids, which pursues themes like destructive family relationships, the construction of social behaviors, and the roots of violence) as well as collage. Clark was interviewed on June 23, 2005 in Los Angeles.