During the summer of 1995, Larry Clark’s directorial debut Kids hit theaters across the country, offering audiences a look into the lives of unsupervised teenagers as they skated, partied, had unprotected sex, and did drugs over the course of one day in New York City. Though it was met with controversy upon release, Kids has become seen as a cult classic, launching the careers of names including Chloe Sevigny, Justin Pierce, Harmony Korine, and Leo Fitzpatrick. Now celebrating thirty years since its release, the film is looked back on as a window into a historic era of New York street life and youth culture, and a massive influence on the communities of art and skateboarding in the city.
First introduced to photography by his mother, a successful baby photographer in their hometown of Tulsa, Oklahoma, Clark’s teenage years were marked by drug abuse and sexual exploration during the ‘60s, which he documented and published in his first photobook Tulsa (1971). Following the release of the book, Clark spent the next decade falling deeper into the same world he captured, only interrupted by a 19-month prison sentence after shooting a man in the arm over a card game. In 1983, Clark published his second photobook Teenage Lust, an autobiographical depiction of a lifestyle of violence, drug addiction, and sexual promiscuity, which The New York Times later described as a collection of “imperfect nonmoments that convey the jittery, ad hoc, uncomposed quality of lives going nowhere way too fast”.
Up until Kids, the majority of Clark’s work consisted of gonzo-style photography of the subcultures and lifestyles that participated in. In setting out to create his first film, Clark gravitated towards the city’s growing skate scene in lower Manhattan – a culture he was an outsider to, but saw as the most visually exciting to capture on screen. He began to spend time at Washington Square Park, taking photos and observing the skaters who frequented the spot. Initially wary of Clark – a 49 year-old with a camera who didn’t skate – the youth eventually accepted him amongst their ranks after aspiring photographer Tobin Yelland vouched for presence. Clark spent the next few years hanging out with young skaters downtown, many of whom worked at or hung around the newly opened Supreme store on Lafayette street.
Through spending time at Washington Square Park, Clark would meet 18 year-old skater Harmony Korine, who had recently moved to New York from Nashville for the NYU writing program. Eventually, he approached Korine with an outline for Kids, and asked him to write the story. Less than three weeks later, Korine had dropped out of school, and returned with a completed script.
When casting for the movie, Clark avoided anyone with prior acting experience, choosing instead to shoot with the real-life kids whose lives inspired the film. Iconic scenes such as the beatdown in Washington Square Park soundtracked by Daniel Johnston’s “Casper the Friendly Ghost” closely resembles an infamous fight that went down at the Brooklyn Banks skate contest in 1993, where footage captured by photographer Dave Schubert shows Clark stepping in to break up the fight. Also present at this fight was a 14 year-old Leo Fitzpatrick, who would later be cast for the lead role of Telly, after future professional skater Quim Cardona’s mother forbade him from being in the movie.
“It was basically an exaggerated version of what we were already doing,” Fitzpatrick explained to Vice in an Epicly Later’d retrospective on Korine’s career. “Justin Pierce was always gonna be Casper, that role was written for him. Harold’s role was written for Harold [Hunter]”.
Other roles were originally written with certain people in mind – the character of Steven was intended for Steven Cales, who was arrested en route to his audition and subsequently sentenced to 24 months in prison. Chloe Sevigny was initially cast as a peripheral character, but was given the lead role of Jennie in a last-minute change of plans.
Living Proof has worked with Larry Clark to release “Called Home”, a collection of photographs from his personal archives through the years 1992 to 1995. Now 30 years later, his documentation of this time serves as a cultural monument to a legendary era in New York’s history. Candid snapshots of individuals including Harold Hunter, Leo Fitzpatrick, Andy Roy, Colin Mckay, Bobby Puleo, Danny Way, Eddie Peel, Rick Howard, Pat Duffy, Steven Calrd and, Justin Pierce offer a look into Clark’s perspective on the early days of a scene which birthed a generation of future icons in the worlds of skateboarding, film, and art which have forever left an impact on New York City.
This article was written by Eden DaSilva for the release of “Called Home”, now available on the Living Proof Patreon.
