Peter Hujar demonstrated the same fearlessness in his photography as he did in life. He documented his bohemian lifestyle in New York City in black and white portraits that captured his outsider circle of friends and lovers. Like Robert Mapplethorpe, Nan Goldin and others, Hujar’s work emerged as a particularly crucial vehicle for increasing lesbian and gay visibility. His photography was integral to the fight for LGBTQ rights during the 1960s but he didn't earn wider societal recognition until after his passing.
Hujar was born in Trenton, New Jersey, in 1934. Due to a difficult home life, he was navigating the streets of New York City on his own by the time he was 16 years old. Pursuing photography from a young age, Hujar attended the New York High School of Art and Design in 1953. At the same time, he apprenticed in commercial photography studios. By 1964, he was working as a chief assistant for photographer Harold Krieger.
At his own considerable financial expense, Hujar left the world of commercial photography in 1967 and decided to use his talents to support the burgeoning LGBTQ rights movement. He was present at the Stonewall riots in 1969, and his iconic photo Come out! was featured in a 1970 poster for the Gay Liberation Front. Hujar also took intimate photos of counterculture figures in Manhattan throughout the 1970s, from partying drag queens to queer intellectuals. Some of his most famous images were of his friend and lover David Wojnarowicz.
In the early 1980s, Hujar stepped into a mentor role to up-and-coming artists like Gary Schneider, Nan Goldin and Kiki Smith. While he felt that his own work was underappreciated, he was happy to champion the work of the next generation.
Hujar passed away from AIDS-related pneumonia in 1987 in New York City. His work was posthumously celebrated, and his first retrospective was held in 1994 at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam.
Hujar's photographs have since been exhibited all over the United States and Europe. In 2020, Pace Gallery held an online exhibit called “Peter Hujar: Cruising Utopia,” which featured a selection of both his famous and lesser-known works.
Find original Peter Hujar photography on 1stDibs.
Wreck with Shattered Window
By Peter Hujar
Located in New York, NY
This early print of this image was made in 1980. It is titled, signed and stamped on verso, by the Executor of the Hujar Estate.
Silver Gelatin
Price Upon Request
New York: Sixth Avenue
By Peter Hujar
Located in New York, NY
This black and white photograph by Peter Hujar depicts a series of large skyscrapers in midtown Manhattan. New York: Sixth Avenue 1976 Signed in ink, verso Gelatin silver print 2...
Silver Gelatin
Faux Couple
By Silvia Lareo-Vazquez
Located in Hudson, NY
Listing is for UNFRAMED print. Inquire within for framing. If the exhibition piece is sold or the customer orders a different print size, the photograph is produced upon purchase...
Silver Gelatin
Joan and Quintana Roo (Frame 27a.)
By Julian Wasser
Located in New York, NY
Listing includes free shipping for unframed prints and a 14 day return policy. Joan Didion by Julian Wasser 20 x 16 inch gelatin silver print Edition 3 of 15 Signed on verso by Julian Wasser *Please inquire for international shipments. Quotes will be provided at cost via FedEx. Description - Julian Wasser started his career in photography in the Washington DC bureau of the Associated Press where he met and accompanied the famous news photographer Weegee – who would become a lasting influence on him. In the mid-60s Wasser moved to Los Angeles as a contract photographer for TIME, LIFE, and FORTUNE magazines and becoming internationally known as the go to guy for getting candid but memorably composed photographs. (His iconic images of Jack Nicholson and Anjelica Huston; Marcel Duchamp and Eve Babitz; and a young Jodie Foster are already classics.) In 1968 TIME Magazine assigned Wasser to go to the home of the young writer Joan Didion whose book Slouching Towards Bethlehem was becoming a literary sensation. “I’d read her fiction,” said Wasser. “and she didn’t miss a thing. She was such a heavyweight person.” Wasser shot Didion at her rented house on Franklin Avenue in Hollywood, where she lived with her husband, the writer John Gregory Dunne, and their daughter, Quintana Roo. “It was a nice, cozy house,” Wasser remembers. “And she was a very easy person to talk to...
Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin
Untitled Portrait
By Seydou Keïta
Located in New York, NY
Listing includes framing with UV Plexi ($900 value), free shipping, and a 14-day return policy. Seydou Keïta Untitled Portrait, 1952 - 1955 (02158) 23...
Photographic Film, Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin
Ted Higby at Skyline Rodeo, 1928
Located in New York, NY
Listing includes framing with UV plexiglas, free shipping and a 14 day return policy. Ted Higby at Skyline Rodeo, 1928 15 x 12 inch gelatin silver print Image Size: 14 x 8.5 inches Frame size: 22.5 x 17.5 x 2 inches Edition of 15 Lora Webb Nichols was born in 1883 and grew up in the small mining town of Encampment, Wyoming. At the age of 16 Lora received her first camera and from that moment and for the next few decades she produced work that is both stunning in its singular voice and revealing in the world it opens up for us. At first Nichols photographed her family, friends, and the landscape around Encampment, but when the town experienced a copper mining boom Nichols expanded her scope to become a photographer for hire shooting portraits and industrial photographs. When the boom collapsed, Nichols took the risk of opening her own business in Encampment - The Rocky Mountain Studio - which opened in 1925. The studio ran for ten years, accumulating 24,000 negatives that illustrate the lives and environment of the people living in and around the town while creating a distinctive and surprising body of work. If one was to attempt an analogy – Nichols’ pictures fit somewhere between Lartigue and Lange - joyful and generous while objectively intimate. In particular what seems to distinguish Nichols’ work is the way she sees the world from a female perspective. As Vince Aletti...
Silver Gelatin
$5,000
H 11 in W 14 in
Eve Babitz and Marcel Duchamp playing chess during Duchamp's Pasadena Art Museum
By Julian Wasser
Located in New York, NY
Listing is for an unframed print and includes free shipping to the continental US and 14-day return policy. Julian Wasser Eve Babitz and Marcel Duchamp pl...
Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin
$875
H 10 in W 8 in D 0.07 in
DOUGLAS JULEFF Vintage 1950s Photograph of "Beefcake" model GENE STAGGS #1
Located in Glenford, NY
Rare early 1950s Original Vintage Gelatin Silver Photograph by DOUGLAS JULEFF - also known as DOUG OF DETROIT - of bodybuilder and model GENE STAGGS. This is #1 of two images of Stag...
Silver Gelatin
$875
H 10 in W 8 in D 0.07 in
DOUGLAS JULEFF Vintage 1950s Photograph of "Beefcake" model Unidentified #3
Located in Glenford, NY
Rare early 1950s Original Vintage Gelatin Silver Photograph by DOUGLAS JULEFF - also known as DOUG OF DETROIT - of an unidentified model (Unidentified #3). All of Juleff's records we...
Silver Gelatin
$875
H 10 in W 8 in D 0.07 in
DOUGLAS JULEFF Vintage 1950s Photograph of "Beefcake" model Dick Lee
Located in Glenford, NY
Rare early 1950s Original Vintage Gelatin Silver Photograph by DOUGLAS JULEFF - also known as DOUG OF DETROIT - of model DICK LEE. Photograph is an excellent example of Jufeff's mast...
Silver Gelatin
Joan Didion, Hollywood, 1968 (Frame 33a.)
By Julian Wasser
Located in New York, NY
This is a limited edition 16 x 20 inch print of Joan Didion by photographer Julian Wasser shot for her iconic interview with TIME in 1968. Listing includes free shipping to the continental US and a 14-day return policy. Please inquire for framing options or international shipments. We offer framing services through our New York location. Joan Didion by Julian Wasser Gelatin Silver Print Paper Size: 16 x 20 inches Image Size: 11.5 x 17.5 inches Edition 9 of 15 Signed and on the back by Julian Wasser and editioned on adhesive certificate History Behind the Photograph - Julian Wasser started his career in photography in the Washington DC bureau of the Associated Press where he met and accompanied the famous news photographer Weegee – who would become a lasting influence on him. In the mid-60s Wasser moved to Los Angeles as a contract photographer for TIME, LIFE, and FORTUNE magazines and becoming internationally known as the go to guy for getting candid but memorably composed photographs. (His iconic images of Jack Nicholson and Anjelica Huston; Marcel Duchamp and Eve Babitz...
Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin
Wrestler's Embrace
By Laurence Salzmann
Located in Hudson, NY
Listing is for UNFRAMED print. Inquire within for framing. Edition of 10. If the exhibition piece is sold or the customer orders a different print size, the photograph is pro...
Silver Gelatin
Jeffrey Cook
By George Dureau
Located in New Orleans, LA
George Valentine Dureau (1930 - 2014) was active/lived in Louisiana. George Dureau is known for Male nude figure, genre, portrait.
Silver Gelatin
Zhangjiajie I, China
By Alexandre Manuel
Located in New York City, NY
Alexandre Manuel Zhangjiajie I, China, 2018 12x12 inches Edition of 10 Silver Gelatin Print
Silver Gelatin
Clown’s Trunk (Ringling Brothers, Barnum and Bailey Circus)
By Peter Hujar
Located in New York, NY
Clown’s Trunk (Ringling Brothers, Barnum and Bailey Circus) 1973 Signed, verso Vintage gelatin silver print 18.75 x 16 inches, sheet 15.25 x 15.37...
Silver Gelatin
Hallway–Canal Street Pier
By Peter Hujar
Located in New York, NY
Hallway–Canal Street Pier 1983 Estate stamped in black ink, verso; also signed, titled, dated by estate in graphite, verso Vintage gelatin silver print ...
Silver Gelatin
Reggie's Dog: Bouche Walker
By Peter Hujar
Located in New York, NY
Peter Hujar Reggie's Dog: Bouche Walker, 1981 Gelatin silver print 14 3/4 x 14 3/4 inches (image) 19 3/4 x 16 inches (sheet) 22 3/4 x 22 3/4 inches (frame) Stamped by the artist's es...
Silver Gelatin
Portrait of Poet Anne Waldman
By Peter Hujar
Located in New York, NY
Vintage gelatin silver print Signed in black ink, l.r. 20 x 16 inches, sheet 15 x 15 inches, image This photograph is offered by ClampArt, located in New York City.
Silver Gelatin
David Wojnarowicz’s Wall Drawing at Pier 34
By Peter Hujar
Located in New York, NY
Vintage gelatin silver print Signed, verso Artist's studio stamp, verso This photograph is offered by ClampArt, located in New York City. This is an image of the “Pier 34” show. Guerrilla art shows that took place in unused City of NY buildings such as the “Real Estate Show,” or the “Times Square Show” that was held in an abandoned massage parlor, are examples of art collectives creating alternatives to the staid, exclusionary spaces of museums and galleries. They took the concept a step further with shows that were intentionally disposable, often leaving the artwork behind to be destroyed with the condemned buildings. The “Pier 34” show, organized by David Wojnarowicz and Mike Bidlo...
Silver Gelatin