A RESEARCH PROJECT. By Noe Paparella
Introduction
BIRTH
FAMOUS WORK
_Born in Oklahoma, America _In 1943
_Popularly known for his movie, Kids _His book, Tulsa
TITLES
MAIN THEMES
_American writer _Photographer _Film director _Producer
_The youth belonging to a particular subculture _Youngsters who employ illicit drug usage _Dysfunctional relationship within family _Religious injustice _Connection between mass media and social behaviors _Reasons of violence _Sexual activities in teenagers
Larry Clark was introduced to photography at an early age. His mother was a baby photographer, and therefore since the age of thirteen he was involved in the family business. In 1959, Clark began using drugs with his friends and during 1963 to 1971, Clark photographed himself using. Clark studied at Layton School of Art in Wisconsin, under Walter Sheffer and Gerhard Bakker. By 1964, he moved to New York to work as a freelancer, but was soon sent to Vietnam War to serve in the army for two months. With his experience there, he published his book Tulsa in 1971 which depicts his friends using drugs. Following this, he published Teenage Lust in 1983, an photo-autobiography of his childhood and teenage past. Moreover, Clark wrote an essay entitled “The Perfect Childhood” which displayed a detailed study of the effect of media in youth culture through photographs.
Biography
Later on, in 1993, Larry Clark directed Chris Isaak’s music video, the Solitary Man. This led Clark to aquire a strong interest in film direction. He went on to ask Harmony Korine in New York to produce a screenplay for his feature film, Kids. In 1995, the film triggered controversy and gained critical acclaim. Afterwards, Clark kept directing feature film for many years. In total, Clark has created eight film between 1995 and 2012. Larry Clark is a social artist, however numerous film critics critize his films and label them as manipulative, explicit and profane representation of teenagers. His movie, Ken Park, was banned in Australia and has not been distributed in the States since 2008. However, in spite of all the setbacks and criticism, Larry Clark has won prizes at the Stockholm Film Festival, for Bully; at the Rome Film Festival, for Mafia Girl and at the Cognac festival du Film Policier, for Another Day in Paradise.
Who are your personal favorite OGs: The painter Christopher Wool and the musician Jonathan Velasquez. Who are some of the people who have been an inspiration to your career? Lenny Bruce and Bob Dylan. What was the biggest obstacle you had to overcome in your career? Self-hatred. What do you think made you the person you are? Never sold out. What were you like as a child and a teenager? Let’s skip that one. What do you consider to be the biggest success of your career thus far? Still being alive. How do you deal with the business side of your career? I don’t. Do you care about that part of things? No What is the best thing a fan has ever given you or done for you? After I made Kids a kid stopped me in the street and said, “Larry I saw your movie. It wasn’t like a movie, it was like real life.”
Interview
“I AM A STORYTELLER. I’VE NEVER BEEN INTERESTED IN JUST TAKING THE SINGLE IMAGE AND MOVING ON. I ALWAYS LIKE TO STAY WITH THE PEOPLE I’M PHOTOGRAPHING FOR LONG PERIODS OF TIME.”
Tulsa
Throughout the 1960s Larry Clark shot photos which documented his youth in Tulsa. The photos depicted drug usage, teenage sex and violence. His photographs were taken in black and white, adding to the gritty realism of youth culture in the 60s. Through his photographs, Clark really differentiate himself from others and even develops and new style of subjective documentary, by means of graphic and controversial subject matter, impressive low-light photography, obvious illicit nature of the viewer’s engagement, and limited editorial handling. But more than that, the pictures and the book were a window into Clark’s life. The book opens with this short quote: “I was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1943. When I was sixteen I started shooting amphetamine. I shot with my friends everyday for three years and then left town but I’ve gone back through the years. Once the needle goes in it never comes out.”
Teenage Lust
Clark’s next book entitled, “Teenage Lust” involved photographing the next generation of teenagers. This book focused much more on teenager’s sexual lives and accomplishments. It incorporated images of teenage prostitution, drugs and guns in a rather graphic style. Clark himself appeared in some of the photographs naked with the teenagers furthering the controversial nature of the imagery. In some way this book appears as an unconventional autobiography and was even subtitled “An Autobiography of Larry Clark,” as it also comprises of early family snapshots and follows an approximate biographical chronology. However, Clark’s main objective seems to be to “turn back the years” and to relive moments of his own teen past through images of others. More experimental, and unreserved than “Tulsa”, “Teenage Lust” has the rawness, innocence, and ambivalence of adolescence, a major element that shines throughout Clark’s work.
Skaters
The “Skaters” series gathers color portraits of teenage skateboarders in New York City during the 1980-90s who would come to be the cast for his movie, Kids. Some of these photographs were taken in Clark’s studio, but most were taken in Washington Square Park, which is where he first encountered Harmony Korine, who would later on write the screenplay for Kids. Clark found himself drawn to the freedom of these skateboarders, to their ability to roam the city without any adult supervision. The subject of youthful independence and parental neglect is a recurrent theme in Larry Clark’s work. This series also reinforces Clark’s interest for this documentary style, and also unveils a clear link with his movies.
Kids
Clark’s film “Kids” is controversial not just because of its content but also because of an older man asking children and teenagers to engage in acts for his films that in any other situation would be either illegal or considered grooming. Clark stated in “The Guardian” in 2011 that his work was not intended to shock: “All my work has been about small groups of people you wouldn’t know about otherwise.” Clark himself also stated that he handles the situation carefully with the kids he works with and always speaks to the parents about his intentions. The release of “Kids” brought Larry Clark international recognition for both the film and his photographic work dating back to 1971.
ANOTHER DAY IN PARADISE (1998)
More Films
TEENAGE CAVEMAN (2002)
BULLY (2001)
DESTRICTED (2006)
WASSUP ROCKERS (2006)
KEN PARK (2002)
MARFA GIRL (2012)
Supreme
Larry Clark also created Supreme’s 2010 Fall/Winter collection lookbook. The book features a handful of images of young gents in Supreme gear. Entitled “OPEN HONEST FRESH FACES” the result is natural and more loose than a traditional lookbook.
£100 Photograph Sale
When Larry Clark turned 71, he found himself with thousands of one-of-a-kind prints he had accumulated over the years of his career. It included behind-the-scenes snapshots from his films like Kids; outtakes from his calendar shoot for Supreme; portraits of ragtag gangs of skate kids and street hustlers and much more. Larry Clark thus decided to put in place two one week exhibits where he sold these prints (1992-2010) – many of which were printed at pharmacies and one hour photo shops – to the public, all at the low price of £100 per photograph. In his words, the sale is for “all the kids that come to my shows and could never afford ten to fifteen thousand dollars for a print... This is a pay back to all the skate rats and collectors who would like a souvenir so I can die happy”.
The Smell Of Us
In 2014 Larry Clark makes a return film with his upcoming movie “The Smell of Us”, but this time with a distingtly more French perspective. Though he has mainly focused on teenagers and youth subculture in his films, The Smell Of Us (his first foreign language film) focuses specifically on the skate subculture in the City of Lights. The script was written by the young talented poet S.C.R.I.B.E, and follows a group of party hardy young skaters between the ages of 14 and 20 around Paris. Simultaneously, Thomas Kimmerlin produced “A summer with the French kids of Larry Clark”, a series of short documentary videos which focus on the making of “The Smell Of Us”, from behind the scenes. Broken down into 8 episodes of 6 minutes each, the web documentary depicting the Parisian protagonists aired on ARTE Creative every Thursday.
Conclusion
Clark’s work suggest the crossing of boundaries, the loss of innocence and no way to return. His films reflect the ugly face of society and the increasing crime rate in the youth. All the characters in his film, surrender to temptation and indulge in actions without caring about consequences. His work is no doubt alarming but at the same time its compelling. He selects those subjects that are taboo yet they are happening in the society – the only thing Larry Clark did was to make people see what’s happening. Truth is always bitter and although for showing this, Clark did suffer from being labeled as being pornographic and a pervert but at least some took his work as thought provoking pieces of art.
Works Cited
“A Summer with the French Kids of Larry Clark.” ARTE Creative. Web. <http://creative.arte.tv/fr/magazine/summer-french-kids-larry-clark>. “ABOUT LARRY CLARK.” LARRY CLARK. Web. <http://larryclark.com/about/>. “FILMS: Larry Clark at International Center of Photography.” FILMS: Larry Clark at International Center of Photography. Web. <http://museum.icp.org/museum/exhibitions/larry_clark/films.html>. “I Had Lunch with Larry Clark.” VICE. Web. <http://www.vice.com/read/i-had-lunch-with-larry-clark>. “LARRY CLARK & JIM GOLDBERG: “The Matter with Kids Today – ‘Kids’ and ‘Raised by Wolves’” (1996).” AMERICAN SUBURB X. Web. <http://www.americansuburbx. com/2013/02/larry-clark-jim-goldberg-the-matter-with-kids-today-kids-and-raised-by-wolves-1996.html>. “LARRY CLARK INTERVIEW.” HarmonyKorinecom. Web. <http://harmony-korine.com/text/int/lc/?p=137>. “LARRY CLARK: NO FILTER.” Papermag. Web. <http://www.papermag.com/2014/09/larry_clark.php>. “LARRY CLARK: “Perfect Childhoods (Excerpt)” (2005).” AMERICAN SUBURB X. Web. <http://www.americansuburbx.com/2013/12/larry-clark-perfect-childoods-excerpt-2005.html>. “Larry Clark.” Larry-clark.net: Autres Ressources. Web. <http://larry-clark.net/autres.html>. “Larry Clark.” Luhring Augustine. Web. <http://www.luhringaugustine.com/artists/larry-clark#>. “Larry Clark.” ICP. Web. <http://museum.icp.org/museum/exhibitions/larry_clark/larry_clark_press.html>. “Larry Clark.” Interview Magazine. Web. <http://www.interviewmagazine.com/art/larry-clark/#page3>. “Larry Clark - Tulsa & Teenage Lust.” Larry Clark - Tulsa &amp; Teenage Lust. Web. <http://foam.org/visit-foam/calendar/2014-exhibitions/larry-clark>. “Larry Clark 2014 07.” Simon Lee. Web. <http://www.simonleegallery.com/exhibitions/larry-clark-2014-07>. “Larry Clark Is Still Dangerous After All These Years.” VICE. Web. <http://www.vice.com/read/larry-clark-is-still-dangerous-after-all-these-years>. “Larry Clark Returns to the Big Screen With “The Smell Of Us”” Mass Appeal. Web. <http://massappeal.com/larry-clark-the-smell-of-us/>. “Larry Clark at International Center of Photography.” International Center of Photography. Web. <http://museum.icp.org/museum/exhibitions/larry_clark/index.html>. “Larry Clark Is Selling His Snapshots at £100 a Pop.” Dazed. Web. <http://www.dazeddigital.com/photography/article/20247/1/larry-clark-is-selling-his-snapshots-at100-a-pop>. “Larry Clark’s New Parisian ‘Kids’” Konbini London. Web. <http://www.konbini.com/en/inspiration/larry-clark-new-kids/>. “Larry Clark: Photos, Films, Sex & Drugs - A Career Devoted to Recording the Youth Subculture.” Bright Hub. Web. <http://www.brighthub.com/multimedia/photography/articles/120881.aspx>. “The Cheerful Transgressive.” NYMag. Web. <http://nymag.com/nymetro/arts/art/11608/>. “The Smell Of Us.” ScreenDaily. Web. <http://www.screendaily.com/reviews/the-latest/the-smell-of-us/5076680.article>. “The Smell of Us Review: Larry Clark’s Passionless Voyeur Flick.” The Guardian. Web. <http://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/aug/31/larry-clark-the-smell-of-us-peter-bradshaw>. “Venice Film Review: ‘The Smell of Us’.” Variety. Web. <http://variety.com/2014/film/reviews/venice-film-review-larry-clarks-the-smell-of-us-1201291416/>.