February 09 2011
The Julie Project
posted by Ana Samways at 9:29 am
I bawled while reading about Julie Baird’s unfortunate life, but I am a cryer.
Darcy Padilla photographed Julie over an 18 year period, from when she was a teen with her 8 day old infant, to her death from AIDS at 36. The fly-on-the-wall photographs are not easy to look at; they are confronting, brutal and terribly sad. And they made me angry. Why would a woman like this have child after child? To think of Julie as a person and not a series of political issues is important. It reminds us of the fragility of human existence when poverty and poor mental health are factors, and the intergenerational nature of such deprivation.
“Julie stood in the lobby of the Ambassador Hotel, barefoot, pants unzipped, and an 8 day-old infant in her arms. She lived in San Francisco’s SRO district, a neighborhood of soup kitchens and cheap rooms. Her room was piled with clothes, overfull ashtrays and trash. She lived with Jack, father of her first baby Rachael, and who had given her AIDS. She left him months later to stop using drugs…”
Read more here.
February 9th, 2011 at 10:56 am
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Ana Samways, NZGlitterGirl. NZGlitterGirl said: RT @AnaSamways: This made me cry… http://tinyurl.com/4aqdn9j [...]
February 12th, 2011 at 4:25 pm
it made me sad
February 15th, 2011 at 10:28 pm
This should be required reading for anyone who thinks they have quick fix, glib answers to social problems… especially those at either extreme who entirely blame “the system” or the individual.
Other than that… I’m speechless. It’s rare to find something on the internet you know will stay with you a long, long time… this will.
April 12th, 2011 at 12:34 pm
This was stunning, a real tribute to Darcy and all her hard work. This is what can happen when the photojournalist detaches themselves from their detached role and becomes involved with another person. Been missing the Spare Room tho.