Peter Hujar Behind the Camera and in the Darkroom

Intimate remembrances of Peter Hujar from his friend, posthumous printer and sometimes subject Gary Schneider

This suite of heartfelt accounts invites the reader firsthand into artist Gary Schneider’s journeys in image making with his friend and mentor, the beloved photographer Peter Hujar (1934–87). Drawing from a selection of Hujar’s pictures, Schneider (born 1954) takes each image as a point of departure to share his expertise as Hujar’s posthumous printer. Outside the darkroom, Schneider situates his chronicle squarely within the transformative social shifts of downtown New York City in the nascent years of the AIDS crisis. Through a mix of Schneider’s stories and technical prowess, he creates a rich tapestry that serves both as a historical testimony and a portrait of their relationship.
Schneider also writes in captivating detail describing his experience with Peter Hujar refining his abilities as a printer, as a subject of Hujar’s portraiture, as an extra hand accompanying the photographer on cruisy, nighttime shoots, and of when he turned the lens on Hujar to record him as a subject in his filmic work. Informative as it is stirring, Peter Hujar Behind the Camera and in the Darkroom is an indelible portrait of a relationship delineated by photography, desire and gratitude.