Photographing Chicago’s Opioid Epidemic

By Jason Marck, Tony Sarabia
They are train hoppers from Southern California. I’ve seen them for a couple years now. According to Stone (the man), when they arrived and got off the train in Northwest Chicago, they bunkered down to sleep on what they thought was a dead-end street. While they were sleeping, they were run over by a truck. You can still see the scars. By the time they got out of the hospital months later, they were addicted to the painkillers prescribed by doctors. So then they started doing heroin to replace the prescribed opiates they were getting for their pain. I think they recuperated from their wounds, but now they’re really addicted to heroin.
"They are train hoppers from Southern California. I’ve seen them for a couple years now. According to Stone (the man), when they arrived and got off the train in Northwest Chicago, they bunkered down to sleep on what they thought was a dead-end street. While they were sleeping, they were run over by a truck. You can still see the scars. By the time they got out of the hospital months later, they were addicted to the painkillers prescribed by doctors. So then they started doing heroin to replace the prescribed opiates they were getting for their pain. I think they recuperated from their wounds, but now they’re really addicted to heroin." From Documenting the ‘Opioid Migrants’ of Chicago: A photo essay by Lloyd DeGrane Courtesy of Belt Magazine, Lloyd DeGrane
"They are train hoppers from Southern California. I’ve seen them for a couple years now. According to Stone (the man), when they arrived and got off the train in Northwest Chicago, they bunkered down to sleep on what they thought was a dead-end street. While they were sleeping, they were run over by a truck. You can still see the scars. By the time they got out of the hospital months later, they were addicted to the painkillers prescribed by doctors. So then they started doing heroin to replace the prescribed opiates they were getting for their pain. I think they recuperated from their wounds, but now they’re really addicted to heroin." From Documenting the ‘Opioid Migrants’ of Chicago: A photo essay by Lloyd DeGrane Courtesy of Belt Magazine, Lloyd DeGrane
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They are train hoppers from Southern California. I’ve seen them for a couple years now. According to Stone (the man), when they arrived and got off the train in Northwest Chicago, they bunkered down to sleep on what they thought was a dead-end street. While they were sleeping, they were run over by a truck. You can still see the scars. By the time they got out of the hospital months later, they were addicted to the painkillers prescribed by doctors. So then they started doing heroin to replace the prescribed opiates they were getting for their pain. I think they recuperated from their wounds, but now they’re really addicted to heroin.
"They are train hoppers from Southern California. I’ve seen them for a couple years now. According to Stone (the man), when they arrived and got off the train in Northwest Chicago, they bunkered down to sleep on what they thought was a dead-end street. While they were sleeping, they were run over by a truck. You can still see the scars. By the time they got out of the hospital months later, they were addicted to the painkillers prescribed by doctors. So then they started doing heroin to replace the prescribed opiates they were getting for their pain. I think they recuperated from their wounds, but now they’re really addicted to heroin." From Documenting the ‘Opioid Migrants’ of Chicago: A photo essay by Lloyd DeGrane Courtesy of Belt Magazine, Lloyd DeGrane
"They are train hoppers from Southern California. I’ve seen them for a couple years now. According to Stone (the man), when they arrived and got off the train in Northwest Chicago, they bunkered down to sleep on what they thought was a dead-end street. While they were sleeping, they were run over by a truck. You can still see the scars. By the time they got out of the hospital months later, they were addicted to the painkillers prescribed by doctors. So then they started doing heroin to replace the prescribed opiates they were getting for their pain. I think they recuperated from their wounds, but now they’re really addicted to heroin." From Documenting the ‘Opioid Migrants’ of Chicago: A photo essay by Lloyd DeGrane Courtesy of Belt Magazine, Lloyd DeGrane
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Photographing Chicago’s Opioid Epidemic

By Jason Marck, Tony Sarabia

Chicago photographer Lloyd DeGrane makes his living shooting pictures for a diverse list of clients that range from the University of Chicago to the March of Dimes, from the Nature Conservancy to Bank of America.

But his true passion is his documentary work. He’s spent considerable time with prisoners, the homeless, and now, he’s got a new photo essay in Belt Magazine that takes viewers inside the world of opioid addicts in Chicago.