Contact sheet: Peter Hujar self portraits on heel, 1974, gelatin silver print, 8.5 x 11″, 2013.108:8.2110. Peter Hujar Collection, Morgan Library & Museum, New York, purchased on the Charina Endowment Fund, 2013.

Only a decade ago, just mentioning the photographer Peter Hujar required explanation. “He took that famous picture of Susan Sontag, recumbent with tired eyes.” Or: “He made gorgeous black-and-white photos of writers, artists, dancers, beautiful men, empty landscapes, and animals.” But today no preamble is necessary. There are countless entry points to Hujar’s extensive oeuvre, many of which appeared in the past year alone: a half-dozen new books; exhibitions in Paris, Berlin, New York, and San Francisco; and most prominently, a biopic, Peter Hujar’s Day, adapted by Ira Sachs from a 1974 interview with Linda Rosenkrantz.  Read More