societal changes in a time when everyone was rebelling from the “perfect” view of the post-World War II era. Was America the land of the free and happy? Was everyone living the “American Dream”? Hell no. The American Dream was turned on its head and smashed with a boulder. The result was its brains – on drugs. In 1971, after completing his work, Clark produced a book with the help of his friend Ralph Gibson and Gibson’s newly launched Lustrum Press. The book, entitled Tulsa, shocked the world; photography and movies would never be the same. From then on, it was all or nothing and creatives from the likes of Nan
Goldin, Martin Scorsese, and Gus Van Sant were influenced by Clark’s new revolution. But it wasn’t just about taking photos of drugs, sex and violence. It was about relating to the subject. This position is what made Clark famous throughout all of his artistic projects. After Tulsa, Clark was definitely not done. He was determined to find what made us who we are. In 1983, he published his second book, Teenage Lust, a sort of autobiography that took a look at his experiences with all of the culture that twisted our perspectives of the underground. It went beyond Tulsa, even capturing male street hustlers in New York City – photos that have been marked as some of the most profound images of his career.