Heroin User, Chicago after 1957

This photograph, “Heroin User, Chicago”, was taken by Gordon Parks. Parks captured a quiet violence in his image, the user's arm outstretched, a needle in his hand. I am imagining what it must have been like to be Parks in that moment, witnessing such personal desperation, thinking about how his presence may have affected the scene. How to be human and record the scene objectively. There is a sense of the artist holding back, not overdramatizing the situation, but rather letting the image speak for itself, as if he himself is in shock. It is a very difficult and dark place to put yourself, and I am sympathetic to him for doing so. Photography gives a very different view of the world, often much more direct than painting. It is a document that makes you feel the pain of an individual.