Larry ClarkTulsa

Tulsa is a collection of black-and-white photographs by Larry Clark of the life of young people in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Its publication in 1971 “caused a sensation within the photographic community”, leading to a new interest in autobiographical work. Later better known for directing the movie Kids, Clark was a Tulsa native and a drug addict during the period (1963–1971) when he took the photographs.

Tulsa, Clark’s first book, was published in 1971 by Lustrum Press, owned by Ralph Gibson. It has been claimed that thanks to Gene Pitney’s 1960 song “Twenty Four Hours from Tulsa”, Tulsa then represented “young love and family values”. Clark’s book challenged this with scenes of young people having sex, shooting up drugs, and playing with guns.

Clark has said that he “didn’t take these photographs as a voyeur, but as a participant in the phenomenon”, and commentary on the book has emphasized how Clark did not just live with the teenagers portrayed but “did drugs with them, slept with them, and included himself in the photographs”; this conferred an authenticity on the work, which brought it great praise.