Drug photography and harm reduction: reading John Ranard

In this paper I explore the political and cultural dilemmas of drug photography. To do this I bring several different analytical approaches to the evocative images of John Ranard. In the first instance the images are subjected to an iconographic analysis. Secondly the images are examined in terms of the documentary genre from which they emerge. In particular, I explore how Ranard's work relates to North American photodocumentary artists and the work of Larry Clark. Thirdly, a post-structuralist tool is used to examine the political functions of faces in drug photography and the particular types of faces in Ranard's images. Finally, these images are examined in relation to a broader political economy for drug photography that is based on a redemptive or healing imperative in harm reduction. The analysis concludes with a summary of what can be done with drug photography and the need to move drug photography away from a naive realism into a more reflexive and ultimately a more politically strategic set of practices.