To Death Us Do Drug

Thanks derid. I found this image recently and it floored me. The grief is still wrapped all around me. I’m hoping that by sharing this rawness it may help me face it somehow.

Thanks for sharing Juilee….. knowing the history behind this image makes it all the more powerful. I hope this does help you “face it” somehow…...

A sad and powerful image Juilee – must be hard to live with.

thanks Helene and Andrew. I am so glad you can see the power that is contained within this photo. Its part of what makes me what I am. My own history I guess. Thanks again, I really find it comforting to know that others also are touched by this old image.

Powerful image! Congrats! :-)

thanks Carlo I’m so glad you like it.

An extremely moving Photo, thank you for uploading it

Very interesting mood.

Technically it’s a wonderful shot. It must be gut wrenching for you to share it with us. Thanks for helping get the message out.

Very depressing but inspiring at the same time and sorry for your loss.

Thanks to everybody who has taken the time to look at this picture. The acceptance of peoples responses is heartening to say the least.

Very powerful!

Thank you for sharing both your photo and your story. Incredible image.

Sad but true, it was this sort of powerful photography that got me interested in taking pictures in the first place. The 1000 words and all that; I’m sorry for your loss. Take care.

Very dramatic, powerful image; it brings to the forefront what was and is still going on everywhere around us…..I also know firsthand.. My heart goes out to you and I can only say sometimes it’s best not to get over things…....this is reality in it’s rawest form. HUGS!!! Joyce

Title and image combine the whole…...I have lost like you and the daily grief is a load to bear.
I am touched to the core…....Thanks.

The photo says it all.

Thanks everybody for your comments.Iits interesting to see that the image itself resonates with so many and yet there is nothing overt in the picture itself.

very powerfull image & it must be a very sad one for you , thanks for sharing such a personal memory .

Wow this is brilliant Juilee !

And sad as well !

thanks googa

So sad and what a waste – my youngest grandson is going through something like this just now so this is very close to home.

thanks pijinlane. it tears people apart and the memory of that time is still coloured by this.

wow, so sad yet so true.

thanks rebs yes drugs and indeed addiction of any type pays out badly for all around and it really dosn’t matter wereabouts or who that person is.

Wow! What an amazing image, especially with the story attached. How very sad….

thanks jemimaloveb glad you like this image.

This is a very raw and powerful image sending chills down my spine – I guess I relate. I’m very sorry for your loss. This is a brilliant image.

thanks Robert. its such an apparently simple image but somehow it has a real pull to it emotionally.
I’m still affected by it.

Terrific photo, Juilee.

thanks innis. glad you like it.

lovely in a way

thanks toycake. lovely like a car crash in slow motion.

Powerful. The black and white actually adds a lot to it, which seems to me atypical for an “urban” shot. Very good job.

thanks lynauklet. actually I think b/w works best in urban situations. we see in colour so its not as authouritive when making statement works. like this one. would have been crap in colour.

Some things never change, this image could have been shot today.
I love the unbalanced feel, probably much like the subjects life??

thanks docophoto. yes very fair comment. well put.

Big impact, not to mention very touching!

wow juilee, very touching and powerful. hard to watch people slip into such resignation.

thanks Rod and thanks as well Vansk. Yes it is hard to watch this type of thing happen before your eye. Like watching a car accident in slowmo.

I just love this picture. you are clever.

the photo is one that could find itself in any book on photo-journalism, the story is far too close to home to make this anything other than truly and gut wrenchingly sad. What a great waste. Once drugs grab a hold, they become your family and your friends.. it’ s so difficult to break back into a life so taken. Thank you for posting this, i hope it helps you to somehow come to terms and move on.

thanks simon I’m glad you like this and can respond to the darker side of it.

its a powerful photo. thank you for sharing.

thanks Judith thank you for looking and responding.

So sad….I lost friends like this and what made it very sad for me was that they thought the way the are (were) living was perfectly ok and they did not have a problem…...insanity gone sad.

thanks lambfur64 I think most of us know people and familys like this and it always seems to hurt them the most.

OMG, what a powerful image. Thank you for sharing this and the background story to it. Such a tragic experience.

thanks Damien. this simple image seems to touch people. we can all relate somehow.

incredibly emotive

man, so ‘there’ and ‘in your face’.
love it!
very photo journalistic!

tthanks Daniel and thanks too SusanD I’m so pleased you have both taken the time to have a look at this little bit of my past.

This image carries a very powerful message.
Thank you for being brave enough to share it.

wow – a photo that truly speaks volumes…..a difficult subject that tells a sorry story far too familiar to far too many

So sorry for your loss. But it’s a stunning, stunning image.

This is so powerful Juillee… and a brilliant bold statement… Great work indeed! The shot says it all… from the posture to the environment!

oh my god/this is hugely moving photography and words

Poignant and painful.

behind this image is a whole domino effect….what this does to families/Melbourne has a huge drug problem/what you experienced then has happened to another family everyday since. Yes /it also does my head in…............

Wow. What a strong image. I know this is a young woman, but she looks so old. Wonderful capture…devastatingly painful image. Well done.

Juilee so brave of you to share such a personal tragedy. This sort of thing is very hard to wrap your brain around, even as a nurse, I know the dynamics, but to totally understand how so many take this route in their lives, it is hard to comprehend. Each day is a mere existence for them, and how they can get their next score, very, very sad. And so often the end results is death.

Many hugs for you, and perhaps at least one person will look at this and decide that they want help, or see what happens to those who do drugs and will chose not to take that route in their life.

wow Juilee.don’t really know what to say.It’s very moving photograph but it’s much more than that.
xo

You are most welcome, and yes as you get older it does make a difference in how you see things. And you miss those that are gone so much more. My thoughts are with you.

powerful & brutal,,,,yet very beautiful work

a slice of reality for many today in this sick lost world….i think how sad for them that they were robbed so young in life and so sad for you to be left with just memories and a few photographs instead of the living vibrant love of a sister….i really feel for you!

Powerful reportage work, im a sucker for images like this.

Installation qualities of this photo make this nightmare sureal, the pain and grief however remain all too real, love and empathy from Joanne x

Juillee I completely agree. The more time passes the harder it is too understand and more questions need answering…....... I truly do understand,
XXX

That is a timeless timeless image..i can actually hear sounds as i look into it.

what a powerful image …..

A picture of a ghost – with your sister not even in the picture. This is one of those pairing of photo and context that feels like a sucker punch in the gut.

wow JP.

One reason that I relate so strongly to your image “Rise” is because some of us fall and then stand up while some never get up again.
Sending you my heartfelt condolences for your huge loss and sending a huge HUG for comfort.
~Sassi

Really powerful and so candid. A real slice of life

this is great work and a wonderful ode to all of our fallen friends … I miss them all too … life is less without them …

I’m terribly sorry for your loss, this photo is really telling of the miserable state people end up in… xoxo

wow Julie, thanks for sharing this, what an incredible message and experience x

Strong picture and sad story. This is the opposite of the ‘ideal’ punk youth.
The writing reminds me of that other great picture of the American soldier with the writing on his helmet. Ironicly often used in the punkaera.

Hi Juilee – I saw your post in Martin’s thread. It motivated me to have another look all the way through your whole portfolio… We put so much of ourselves, and what has been to make us who we are into our art…. some of it most usually is – like this – so deep that it becomes a fundamental part of who we become as a person all the rest of our lives…
I am truly sorry you have had to be so so close to such pain. There can be so much of it in life…
Kallena xx

I just picked this up in the thread as well and was lead to come and have a closer look … a very poignant photo and the history behind it says so very very much … the pains we carry through our lives can often not be seen by others .. those little things that trigger a memory, mean something to us but nothing to the person standing beside us … the scars that we carry whether internal or external … it’s all there and at the end of the day it is what makes us us … it is just sad what we lose on the way ..

my bro died last year fro window cleaner in his heroin and nobody cares about who poisoned him cause he was homeless so i know atlest abit of how it feel im sorry kiddo

Powerful shot and story, I am so sorry you have endured this pain as it seems way too many of us do. I applaud you for sharing this and fighting the fight for her. Great documentary photo. :) Good luck to you.

very powerful photograph !!