Peter Hujar died at 53 of AIDS related causes in 1987. He was not well known except in a small downtown NYC circle. He willed/gave his photographic legacy to his friend Stephen Koch, with the charge or understanding that Koch would make something more of it than Hujar had made in his lifetime. Koch made that his work; he has now passed, at the age of 84. It is a little hard to comprehend that that era of AIDS rampaging through the art world was almost 35-40 years ago.
Here's a link to the NY Times obituary for Koch, which gives some sense of what it took to make more than a few people aware of Hujar's work - art doesn't exist in a vacuum, it needs a champion. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/11/...e_code=1.S1A.GXOw.fj7MfKzj2r6a&smid=url-share (this is a gift link, so it should let you read it w/o paywall; I don't know how long that persists.)
It's very much worth reading. For the insight into Hujar's life and work, the work and toll of what it takes to be an artist's advocate, and the roadblocks once thrown up by various prejudices.
You can see many many Peter Hujar photos at the Peter Hujar archive: https://peterhujararchive.com
Here's a link to the NY Times obituary for Koch, which gives some sense of what it took to make more than a few people aware of Hujar's work - art doesn't exist in a vacuum, it needs a champion. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/11/...e_code=1.S1A.GXOw.fj7MfKzj2r6a&smid=url-share (this is a gift link, so it should let you read it w/o paywall; I don't know how long that persists.)
"On a hot July day in 1987, Mr. Koch visited Mr. Hujar at the photographer’s austere loft at Second Avenue and East 12th Street. Mr. Hujar knew he was going to die soon and wanted his friend to accompany him to the hospital.
Mr. Koch recounted what happened next in a moving 2018 article in Harper’s Magazine.
After Mr. Hujar slowly bade farewell to the objects in his apartment — “Goodbye, bed,” he said gently — he turned to Mr. Koch and said, “I have decided that you should have the pictures.”
“You’re no good,” the acerbic Mr. Hujar added. “But you’re the best I have.”"
Koch's 2018 article in Harper's is here: https://harpers.org/archive/2018/05/the-pictures/It's very much worth reading. For the insight into Hujar's life and work, the work and toll of what it takes to be an artist's advocate, and the roadblocks once thrown up by various prejudices.
You can see many many Peter Hujar photos at the Peter Hujar archive: https://peterhujararchive.com
