The American photographer Peter Hujar came to recognition for his gritty, tough and glamorous black and white images of the downtown New York scene taken during the 1970s and 80s. Until his untimely death from AIDS in 1987, he was a key player in the group of artists, musicians, writers, and performers who made the city so compelling at this time, and he left behind a complex and profound body of work that has become posthumously celebrated. Ahead of a show of his work at Maureen Paley in London, Danielle speaks to gallery owner Maureen Paley and also to the writer and photography critic Vince Aletti, who was Peter’s close friend, neighbour, fellow-party goer, and portrait sitter.

Image: Peter Hujar

Fran Lebowitz (at Home in Morristown), 1974

© 1987 The Peter Hujar Archive LLC, courtesy Maureen Paley, London and The Peter Hujar Archive