Larry Clark: Tulsa

World-renowned photographer/filmmaker Larry Clark was born and raised in Tulsa. From 1963 to 1971, he photographed the daily lives of his friends. He captured unforgettable images of sex, violence, and drug use alongside intimate moments of solitary contemplation. These images were collected in Clark’s legendary and controversial 1971 book, Tulsa.

These pictures launched both Clark’s career and a new style of photography marked by equal parts intimacy and objectivity. Filmmakers Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, and Gus Van Sant cited Clark’s visual influence on their films Taxi Driver, Rumble Fish, and Drugstore Cowboy, respectively.

The gritty, honest, and ultimately compassionate look at drug abuse in Tulsa feels timely and vital even now as the United States grapples with a wide-reaching opioid addiction and renewed debates about gun and domestic violence. These concerns are at the core of the Philbrook Downtown presentation of selections from Philbrook’s newest acquisition, a 50-print portfolio of photographs from Clark’s Tulsa series.

Larry Clark: Tulsa is presented with generous support from the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation.