wizehop
Chasing the Darkness
the ninth floor by jessica dimmock
By waldito · 1 year ago · 40 images · 277,845 views ·
In the 1970s, New York artist Joe Smith rented an apartment overlooking Fifth Avenue. In the years that followed, the rooms became a black hole of drug addiction, hopelessness, and squandered dreams. A chance meeting with one of the residents drew photojournalist Jessica Dimmock to the apartment, where she embarked on an almost three-year journey into the lives of those living there. Some estimates place numbers of heroin addicts in the United States at 600,000, with growing numbers of teenagers and young adults entering their ranks. Focusing on three individuals, Dimmock watches and listens as the young people on the ninth floor fall into despair, then reflect on their choices and yearn for more. We are left with the reality of the drug's power, and the question: What does it take to kick the habit? Published: December 11, 2007
Jesse stands in the room she shares with her boyfriend, Mike.
Joey calls to someone knocking at his bedroom door before letting them in.
Charlie, a drug dealer who slept in a hidden space behind a moveable bookcase in Joe's apartment, counts money from a sale.
Rachel stays in the apartment after the arrest of her boyfriend, Lucky.
Jesse injects Old Man Joe. Joe cannot shoot himself up, and therefore is dependent on the residents to both inject him and supply him with drugs.
Natasha struggles to find a vein for more than 45 minutes while her arms bleed from repeated attempts.
Jesse walks back and forth in her bedroom prior to getting high. Unbeknown to their upwardly mobile neighbors, a rotating collection of drug users, including Jesse, lived for years on the ninth floor of a rent-controlled apartment building not far from the famous Flatiron building, a prime piece of New York City real estate.
Joe no longer holds a bedroom in his apartment, opting to stay on the couch of the living room and rent out all available space in exchange for drugs, beer or small amounts of money.
The living room of Joe Smith's apartment, like the rest of the household, is stripped of all objects that could be sold to obtain money for drugs.
Joe, 27, first used drugs at the age of 13. His veins are severely scarred and closed as a result of years of needle use. He struggles daily to find places on his body where he can still shoot up.
Mike, lead singer for the Murder Junkies, shows scars from when he cuts himself on stage during performances.
Jesse and Mike share a rare moment of intimacy in their bedroom. The daily struggle to obtain money for drugs puts a considerable amount of strain on their relationship.
Upon being evicted from their apartment, Jesse and her boyfriend Mike sleep in Union Square park during the summer of 2005.
Jesse wanders the streets of New York City after being evicted from the apartment.
Jesse, 32, has been heavily addicted to heroin for more than ten years. After seven-months in jail in 2006 she has moved to her parents home along the Hudson River and attempts sobriety although she continues to relapse.
Jesse's mother tries to comfort her as Jesse cries from frustration and desperation during a painful detox from heroin and crack. Although Jesse is in a rehab program, she does not yet feel the effects of her medication and must fight the temptation to go into the city to score drugs.
Jesse, who is attempting sobriety, meets up with a fellow Narcotics Anonymous member in the park while skipping a meeting.
Jesse is released from a seven-month sentence in jail. Sober and relieved to be out, Jesse is taken to an organic farm on the way to her mother's house where she will go to live in an attempt to stay sober.
Jesse and Mike rent a hotel room for three hours in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Although Jesse has been attempting sobriety by living with her parents in upstate New York, she continues to relapse by coming to Manhattan and using drugs.
Jesse and Mike rent a hotel room for three hours in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Although Jesse has been attempting sobriety by living with her parents in upstate New York, she continues to relapse by coming to Manhattan and using.
Rachel screams at Dionn inside the room they share in the Bronx. The small space that they occupy and the pressures of expecting a baby, being unemployed and trying to stay off heroin have made the couple extremely volatile.
Dionn expresses anger at an exhausted and pregnant Rachel during the summer of 2006.
Rachel punches Dionn during a fight in their Washington Heights apartment. The couple was evicted several weeks later after beating up a roommate to the point of hospitalization.
Dionn after a fight with his girlfriend Rachel.
Rachel and Dionn have sex in their Washington Heights apartment in January of 2006.
Rachel clings to a beer while she and Dionn have sex in their Washington Heights apartment.
Rachel lies on the bed of the Washington Heights apartment she shares with Dionn.
Rachel lies in the apartment she shares with her boyfriend, Dionn, several weeks before their baby is due.
Dionn comforts his daughter, Matilda, in the hospital where she has stayed for the first five weeks of her life.
Jesse struggles to get to the hospital after feeling weak and ill for several weeks.
Jesse, in the hospital for an abscess on her kidney, continues to use heroin.
Jesse shoots up during a several week stay in the hospital for an internal abscess.
By waldito · 1 year ago · 40 images · 277,845 views ·
In the 1970s, New York artist Joe Smith rented an apartment overlooking Fifth Avenue. In the years that followed, the rooms became a black hole of drug addiction, hopelessness, and squandered dreams. A chance meeting with one of the residents drew photojournalist Jessica Dimmock to the apartment, where she embarked on an almost three-year journey into the lives of those living there. Some estimates place numbers of heroin addicts in the United States at 600,000, with growing numbers of teenagers and young adults entering their ranks. Focusing on three individuals, Dimmock watches and listens as the young people on the ninth floor fall into despair, then reflect on their choices and yearn for more. We are left with the reality of the drug's power, and the question: What does it take to kick the habit? Published: December 11, 2007
Jesse stands in the room she shares with her boyfriend, Mike.
Joey calls to someone knocking at his bedroom door before letting them in.
Charlie, a drug dealer who slept in a hidden space behind a moveable bookcase in Joe's apartment, counts money from a sale.
Rachel stays in the apartment after the arrest of her boyfriend, Lucky.
Jesse injects Old Man Joe. Joe cannot shoot himself up, and therefore is dependent on the residents to both inject him and supply him with drugs.
Natasha struggles to find a vein for more than 45 minutes while her arms bleed from repeated attempts.
Jesse walks back and forth in her bedroom prior to getting high. Unbeknown to their upwardly mobile neighbors, a rotating collection of drug users, including Jesse, lived for years on the ninth floor of a rent-controlled apartment building not far from the famous Flatiron building, a prime piece of New York City real estate.
Joe no longer holds a bedroom in his apartment, opting to stay on the couch of the living room and rent out all available space in exchange for drugs, beer or small amounts of money.
The living room of Joe Smith's apartment, like the rest of the household, is stripped of all objects that could be sold to obtain money for drugs.
Joe, 27, first used drugs at the age of 13. His veins are severely scarred and closed as a result of years of needle use. He struggles daily to find places on his body where he can still shoot up.
Mike, lead singer for the Murder Junkies, shows scars from when he cuts himself on stage during performances.
Jesse and Mike share a rare moment of intimacy in their bedroom. The daily struggle to obtain money for drugs puts a considerable amount of strain on their relationship.
Upon being evicted from their apartment, Jesse and her boyfriend Mike sleep in Union Square park during the summer of 2005.
Jesse wanders the streets of New York City after being evicted from the apartment.
Jesse, 32, has been heavily addicted to heroin for more than ten years. After seven-months in jail in 2006 she has moved to her parents home along the Hudson River and attempts sobriety although she continues to relapse.
Jesse's mother tries to comfort her as Jesse cries from frustration and desperation during a painful detox from heroin and crack. Although Jesse is in a rehab program, she does not yet feel the effects of her medication and must fight the temptation to go into the city to score drugs.
Jesse, who is attempting sobriety, meets up with a fellow Narcotics Anonymous member in the park while skipping a meeting.
Jesse is released from a seven-month sentence in jail. Sober and relieved to be out, Jesse is taken to an organic farm on the way to her mother's house where she will go to live in an attempt to stay sober.
Jesse and Mike rent a hotel room for three hours in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Although Jesse has been attempting sobriety by living with her parents in upstate New York, she continues to relapse by coming to Manhattan and using drugs.
Jesse and Mike rent a hotel room for three hours in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Although Jesse has been attempting sobriety by living with her parents in upstate New York, she continues to relapse by coming to Manhattan and using.
Rachel screams at Dionn inside the room they share in the Bronx. The small space that they occupy and the pressures of expecting a baby, being unemployed and trying to stay off heroin have made the couple extremely volatile.
Dionn expresses anger at an exhausted and pregnant Rachel during the summer of 2006.
Rachel punches Dionn during a fight in their Washington Heights apartment. The couple was evicted several weeks later after beating up a roommate to the point of hospitalization.
Dionn after a fight with his girlfriend Rachel.
Rachel and Dionn have sex in their Washington Heights apartment in January of 2006.
Rachel clings to a beer while she and Dionn have sex in their Washington Heights apartment.
Rachel lies on the bed of the Washington Heights apartment she shares with Dionn.
Rachel lies in the apartment she shares with her boyfriend, Dionn, several weeks before their baby is due.
Dionn comforts his daughter, Matilda, in the hospital where she has stayed for the first five weeks of her life.
Jesse struggles to get to the hospital after feeling weak and ill for several weeks.
Jesse, in the hospital for an abscess on her kidney, continues to use heroin.
Jesse shoots up during a several week stay in the hospital for an internal abscess.
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