2003 Photo Contest, Daily Life, 2nd prize
Photographer

Brenda Ann Kenneally

for The New York Times Magazine

01 April, 2000

Drew (14) draws on a joint of marijuana, while his mother Tata smokes crack. Since running into trouble over truancy, he feels that he and she are equal fugitives from the law, so no longer finds it necessary to hide his smoking. His mother has a long record of arrests and convictions for drug offences. Drew had to leave the family apartment where his father and four siblings lived because of problems connected with his truancy from school. He spent the next few years of his life moving around the neighborhood, sometimes staying with friends, sometimes with Tata in the rooms where she sold drugs and got high, occasionally in abandoned buildings where he looked after stray dogs. After helping his mother deal in drugs for a while, Drew later branched out on his own.

About the photographer

Brenda Ann Kenneally

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