Photographer Darcy Padilla followed the life of Julie for 18 years until her death at age 36. She says:
I first met Julie on February 28, 1993. Julie, 18, 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.
From this moment, Darcy photographs the most intimate and terrible moments of this tragic life. Without The photographer in tow, Julie's existence would long be forgotten, like so many others. The desperate lives of the terribly poor in body, mind and soul. Darcy was driven by a desire to give access to Julie's life for the 5 children taken from her. Begin with the STATEMENT. Take the time to be with this life. It should not go unnoticed.
Reading this was life altering. Both Julie's horrendous life, without reprieve, and Darcy's unsentimental devotion to her subject, diving deeply into the underbelly of humanity, shifted me into a sense of deep gratitude and reverence for my life, for it is all just the luck of the draw. There but for the grace of God go I.
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