Larry Clarke's evaluation

As an observer and a direct participant, Larry Clarke truly recorded their desire to get rid of restrictions, pursue more freedom and expand their self-awareness. Sexual freedom and drug abuse account for a large proportion in his works. Without any moral judgment, Larry Clarke's works also show the negative impact of hippie utopian social improvement plans on society, such as prostitution, crime and violence.

In 1983, The Desire of Teenagers-Larry Clarke's Photographs, Larry Clarke once again showed this theme. The protagonists in the works are teenagers with the same figure as the rental boys on 42nd Street in new york.

After 1990s, Larry Clarke's works became more story-telling and plot-telling, and gradually replaced the documentary expression. 1993 published "Beautiful Childhood", which is a collection of photographs, videos and focal plane pictures of Larry Clarke himself and others, or pictures cut from newspapers, constitutes this collection showing childhood life in different times. Larry Clarke seems to evoke memories of utopian childhood. When expressing the life of teenagers, Larry Clarke pays more attention to the extreme, bad and even dangerous living conditions.

Larry Clarke tried to explain that getting rid of the shackles of social norms will inevitably lead to self-destruction. This idea was fully reflected again in his discussion film "Children" written in 1994-95.