Peter Hujar

This volume shines a spotlight on the deep relationship between Paul Thek (1933–88) and Peter Hujar (1934–87) through the artists' letters and photographs. The book opens with Hujar's early portraits capturing the beginnings of their relationship, including Thek's first letters to Hujar, written while aboard a containership en route to Europe, where the two would eventually meet in Rome. From there, the publication traces their evolution into the icons we know them as today, with the remaining letters tracing Thek's travels and adventures, romantic dalliances, work and financial ups and downs through 1975.
Stay away from nothing reproduces more than 50 letters and postcards, along with drawings and other ephemera; their poetic, quotidian and melancholic tone provide a rare glimpse into Thek and Hujar's relationship as it wavers between seduction, glamour, tumult and mischievousness. Throughout this period, Hujar photographed Thek in his now iconic style, capturing him in Italy, in various studios and on the beaches of Fire Island. Included are the artist's now-classic images of Thek in the catacombs in Palermo, as well as his studio portraits of the artist creating The Tomb. Among these well-known works are dozens of other photographs and contact sheets, many unpublished until now, including candid portraits of Thek as well as images of the two artists goofing around or posing for passport photos. Collectively, these images demonstrate not only the complex emotional interiority of Thek but the tender, dark and hopeful connection between the two artists, lovers and friends.

On December 18, 1974, the author Linda Rosenkrantz asked her friend Peter Hujar to write down everything he did on that day. Hujar met Rosenkrantz at her apartment on 94th Street the following day, where she asked him about it in detail and tape-recorded their conversation. Peter Hujar’s Day is a full transcript of that exchange, published here for the first time since it was recorded 47 years ago. The book features an introduction by Stephen Koch, director of the Peter Hujar Estate.
Linda Rosenkrantz (born 1934) is a Los Angeles–based, Bronx-born writer and the author of the "repellently raunchy" novel Talk (1969, republished as a New York Review Books Classic in 2015), Telegram! (2003), a history of telegraphic communication, and her memoir, My Life as a List: 207 Things About My (Bronx) Childhood (1999). She is the coauthor of Gone Hollywood: The Movie Colony in the Golden Age (1979). She is also the founding editor of Auction magazine, the coauthor of 10 bestselling books on baby names, and the cocreator of the popular baby-naming site nameberry.com.

Bringing together the sensibilities of two remarkable artists, Peter Hujar Curated by Elton John provides striking proof of how one artist’s eye can shed light on another. Though known worldwide as one of the most revered performers of our era, Elton John is also a seasoned collector of photographs, with an acute and personal understanding of Hujar’s achievement.
Through a selection of 50 photographs, the book presents a wide-ranging survey of Hujar's career. John writes: “Hujar's humanity, depth and sensual insights aren't for everyone, and don't need to be, but once his pictures get into your bloodstream they are impossible to shake.” The publication includes works spanning nearly two decades, featuring portraits of Hujar's eclectic circle of friends, his landmark nudes, atmospheric landscapes, portraits of performers (Stevie Wonder, Peggy Lee and Edgar Winter) and a moving image of the artist with his mother.
Peter Hujar (1934–87) was born in Trenton, New Jersey and moved to Manhattan to work in the magazine, advertising and fashion industries. He documented the vibrant cultural scene in downtown New York throughout the 1970s and 1980s, photographing artists, musicians, writers and performers. Hujar died of AIDS in 1987.
Elton John (born 1947) is one of the most enduringly successful solo artists of all time. In 1992 he founded the Elton John AIDS Foundation, which funds programs to end the AIDS epidemic. Since the 1990s he has avidly collected photography. In 2016, Tate Modern organized the exhibition The Radical Eye: Modernist Photography from the Sir Elton John Collection.