Eyes open in the dark

This exhibition contains explicit images of sexuality and physicality. It is intended exclusively for adult visitors (aged 18 and over). Please decide for yourself whether you wish to visit the exhibition. Photographer Peter Hujar (1934–1987) was a central figure in the New York downtown scene of the 1970s and 1980s. In the 1950s, Hujar studied photography at the School of Industrial Arts in Manhattan. After abandoning commercial photography, he led a financially precarious life, exhibiting only occasionally. Peter Hujar’s primary interest was portrait photography—he photographed his friends, lovers, and people in his social circle with striking intimacy and emotional depth. In his work, which also includes animal, landscape, and architectural subjects, Hujar repeatedly reveals himself as a sensitive chronicler of a time of social upheaval and radical sexual transformation. I photograph those who push themselves to any extreme, and people who cling to the freedom to be themselves. (Peter Hujar) The exhibition focuses on Hujar’s work since the 1970s and reflects his exploration of the possibilities of relationships within rigid frameworks. It was curated by Hujar’s biographer John Douglas Millar and his friend Gary Schneider, in close collaboration with the photographer’s estate. When Hujar died of AIDS-related pneumonia, his work was largely unknown. Today, however, Peter Hujar is considered one of the most important photographers of the second half of the 20th century. (The exhibition was originally organized by Raven Row with thanks to the Peter Hujar Foundation)