--- description: In light of the news that heroin deaths in the U.S. have quadrupled, LIFE presents a seminal 1965 photo essay on heroin addiction. title: Heroin Addicts in New York: A Harrowing Photo Essay From 1965 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt986a3e6cdc7d48fb/6987820a0b72e3e4256ddfa8/150304-needle-park-01.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [LIFE Photo Essay](/tag/life-photo-essay/) ## LIFE Photo Essay Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # 'Two Lives Lost to Heroin': A Harrowing, Early Portrait of Addicts by [Ben Cosgrove](/author/ben-cosgrove/) ## Ben Cosgrove Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Updated: Dec 13, 2023 4:05 PM CUTPublished: Oct 3, 2013 2:31 PM CUT  Caption from LIFE. Her arms around Johnny and his brother, Bro -- also an addict -- Karen lies hopelessly on a hotel bed. Caption from LIFE. Her arms around Johnny and his brother, Bro -- also an addict -- Karen lies hopelessly on a hotel bed.Bill Eppridge—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images by [Ben Cosgrove](/author/ben-cosgrove/) ## Ben Cosgrove Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Updated: Dec 13, 2023 4:05 PM CUTPublished: Oct 3, 2013 2:31 PM CUT **_‘We are animals in a world no one knows’_** In February 1965, LIFE magazine published an extraordinary photo essay on two New York City heroin addicts, John and Karen. Photographed by [Bill Eppridge](http://life.time.com/bill-eppridge/ "undefined"), the pictures — and the accompanying article, reported and written by LIFE associate editor James Mills — were part of a two-part series on narcotics in the United States. A sensitive, clear-eyed and harrowing chronicle of, as LIFE phrased it, “two lives lost to heroin,” Eppridge’s pictures shocked the magazine’s readers and brought the sordid, grim reality of addiction into countless American living rooms. To this day, Eppridge’s photo essay remains among the most admired and, for some, among the most controversial that LIFE ever published. His pictures and Mills’ reporting, meanwhile, formed the basis for the 1971 movie, [_Panic in Needle Park_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067549/ "undefined"), which starred Al Pacino and Kitty Winn as addicts whose lives spin inexorably out of control. Here, on the heels of the sobering news that [heroin-related deaths quadrupled](http://time.com/3730128/heroin-deaths-painkillers/ "undefined") in the U.S. in the last three years, LIFE.com presents Eppridge’s “Needle Park” photo essay in its entirety, as it appeared in LIFE — a portrait of two young people who have become, as they themselves put it, “animals in a world no one knows.” [\[See more of Bill Eppridge’s work.\]](http://life.time.com/bill-eppridge/ "undefined")  Caption from LIFE. Her arms around Johnny and his brother, Bro -- also an addict -- Karen lies hopelessly on a hotel bed. Bill Eppridge—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  LIFE magazine, Feb. 26, 1965. LIFE Magazine  LIFE magazine, Feb. 26, 1965. LIFE Magazine  LIFE magazine, Feb. 26, 1965. LIFE Magazine  LIFE magazine, Feb. 26, 1965. LIFE Magazine  LIFE magazine, Feb. 26, 1965. LIFE Magazine  LIFE magazine, Feb. 26, 1965. LIFE Magazine  LIFE magazine, Feb. 26, 1965. LIFE Magazine  LIFE magazine, Feb. 26, 1965. LIFE Magazine ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3731579/two-lives-lost-to-heroin-a-harrowing-early-portrait-of-addicts/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3731579/two-lives-lost-to-heroin-a-harrowing-early-portrait-of-addicts/"},"headline":"'Two Lives Lost to Heroin': A Harrowing, Early Portrait of Addicts","datePublished":"2013-10-03T14:31:43.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-13T16:05:23.000Z","description":"In the wake of the news that heroin deaths in the U.S. quadrupled during the last three years, LIFE.com presents a seminal 1965 photo essay on heroin addiction.","url":"https://time.com/3731579/two-lives-lost-to-heroin-a-harrowing-early-portrait-of-addicts/","keywords":["LIFE Photo Essay","Heroin","photography","Bill Eppridge"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt986a3e6cdc7d48fb/6987820a0b72e3e4256ddfa8/150304-needle-park-01.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ben Cosgrove","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/ben-cosgrove/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt986a3e6cdc7d48fb/6987820a0b72e3e4256ddfa8/150304-needle-park-01.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Needle Park, Heroin Addicts","caption":"Heroin addicts, New York, photographed by Bill Eppridge","creditText":"Bill Eppridge—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/life-photo-essay/","name":"LIFE Photo Essay"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3731579/two-lives-lost-to-heroin-a-harrowing-early-portrait-of-addicts/","name":"'Two Lives Lost to Heroin': A Harrowing, Early Portrait of Addicts"}}]}] ```