Larry Clark (Tulsa, Oklahoma, born 1943) is an American photographer and film director whose work centres on marginalised youth, violence, drug use and sex. He began with black-and-white photography and, after several books, became a controversial figure in both photography and film.
He learned photography young: his mother was a photographer, and by the age of 13 he was already helping in the family business. In 1964 he moved to New York City to work independently, but he was drafted into the US Army and spent two months in the Vietnam War. His experiences there lie behind Tulsa (1971), a black-and-white photographic documentary about drug use. Teenage Lust (1983) followed, an "autobiography" built from images of other young people, and The Perfect Childhood (1993), an essay on how the media shape youth culture.
His move into film began with the music video Solitary Man for Chris Isaak. In New York he met Harmony Korine, who wrote the screenplay for Kids (1995), Clark's first feature, a film about teenage sexual behaviour and AIDS that provoked controversy and mixed critical reception. Further films include Another Day in Paradise (1998), Bully (2001), based on a real case, and Ken Park (2002), along with Wassup Rockers, Destricted and the Marfa Girl films. His style is direct, with raw, simple photography and a realistic tone. Clark has said that many of the subjects he treats were part of his own youth. Directors such as Gus Van Sant and Martin Scorsese have admired his work, especially from his photographic period. His photographs are held in collections including the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Museum of Photographic Arts and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.