New York Daily News
01 July, 1997
After buying some heroin, Gloria Colon (33) squats in a littered backyard to find a vein and inject the drug. Gloria has been living on the streets of the Bronx since her late teens, needing ten shots of heroin a day and as many tricks to pay for them. She no longer has her own teeth and her body is covered with scabs and scars. Gloria is one of several thousand homeless, drug-addicted prostitutes living on the streets of New York City. Susan Watts: 'This photograph is part of a larger story. I spent most of the summer of 1997 documenting the life of Gloria, a homeless prostitute addicted to crack and heroin. After the story had been featured in the New York Daily News, Gloria entered a drug treatment program, and she has now been free of drugs for more than five years. She has been reunited with her family and I recently photographed her wedding. The selection of my picture for the Children’s Award made me realize how sophisticated children are to recognize the dangers of drug addiction. They sent a powerful message, and I applaud their courage and insight.' (World Press Photo retrospective Children's Jury exhibition, 2003)
Susan Watts
Susan Watts graduated with a bachelor of fine arts degree in film at New York University before becoming a photojournalist. Since 1995, she has been a staff photographer at the N...
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