Considered shocking for its graphic portrayal of the intimate details of its subjects' risky lives, the book launched Clark's career.

But they still disturb viewers today because of that – and because they depict suburban America; this wasn't a blighted inner-city picture, but the kids next door.Its graphic depictions of sex, violence, and drug abuse in the youth culture of Oklahoma were acclaimed by critics for stripping bare the myth that Middle America had been immune to the social convulsions that rocked America in the 1960s. Filmmakers such as Gus Van Sant and Martin Scorcese were influenced by Clark’s work, and while the subject matter is harsh, the level of artistry is high. Clark's crisp, haunting black-and-white photos, staying remarkably true to their original American iteration.

Often controversial, Clark’s black-and-white images unflinchingly capture overt sexuality, drug use, and violence, as seen in his iconic photobook Tulsa (1971) and his debut feature film Kids (1995). Cover image from Tulsa made into a 23" x 18" poster from an exhibition at the Robert Freidus Gallery. Clark has said that he "didn't take these photographs as a voyeur, but as a participant in the phenomenon", [4] 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. Next week, Foam in Amsterdam pairs images from Tulsa with photographs from Clark's follow-up, Teenage Lust, for a show that reminds us just how unsettling Clark's early vision of the teenage "outlaw life" was, and remains.This is the title as given on the title page; the front cover and spine both read Photography from 1839 to Today: George Eastman House, Rochester, NY. Ever interested by teenage subcultures, Clark chose young amphetamine users in his hometown of Tulsa, Oklahoma as his subject matter for this book Included are 50 black and white photographs that examine their daily lives.

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"; [3] Clark's book challenged this with scenes of young people having sex, shooting up drugs, and playing with guns. The raw, haunting images taken in 1963, 1968, and 1971 document a youth culture progressively overwhelmed by self-destruction and are as moving and disturbing today as when they first appeared. Gibson later clarified: 'What happened was that Larry always wanted to control the distribution of Tulsa himself.The Groninger Museum ( Groningen) bought the series of prints in 1998 and exhibited them in January–April 2005. Regards sur un siècle de photographie à travers Le Live 146; The Book of 101 Books Seminal Photographic Books of the Twentieth Century pp208-9; The Photobook A History, I p260; The Open Book pp272-3; 802 photo books from the M + M Aver collection p531. Covers heavily rubbed at the edges with additional wear and chipping to the spine, light cover creasing and other wear, first two leaves have some general shallow creasing, detached pages have some edgewear, the page with David Roper has some light soil to the margins. His recent photography addresses similar subjects, but with the distance of an observer, and a more prominent formal sensibility. Larry Clark was living with Gibson at the time, whom he introduced to Danny Seymour, a friend and neighbour of Robert Frank on the Bowery.