Peter Hujar: Catacombs

The artist photographed the Palermo Catacombs during a 1963 trip to Italy with Paul Thek. The artist’s first monograph, Portraits in Life and Death (published 1976), juxtaposes several of these images with portraits of writers and artists from Hujar’s social circle.

Black-and-white photograph of preserved skeletons dressed in shrouds and gowns in two rows

Black-and-white photograph of a preserved body with a patterned sash around its neck

Black-and-white photograph of a human skull peering out of a glass-fronted wooden box

Black-and-white photograph of a skull lying amid silk flowers in a glass case

Black-and-white photograph of a preserved child's body propped up in a wooden alcove

Black-and-white photograph of preserved shrouded bodies standing above wooden boxes containing children's preserved bodies

Black-and-white photograph of a skeleton in a lace dress lying in a glass-fronted box

Black-and-white photograph of two preserved children's bodies propped up in a wooden compartment amid other bodies

Black-and-white photograph of a preserved child's body lying in a wooden compartment

Black-and-white photograph of a preserved child's body lying in a glass-fronted wooden case with dried flowers

Black-and-white photograph of a hooded preserved body propped up amid other skeletons in compartments

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Peter Hujar: Catacombs

Peter HujarPalermo Catacombs #11

1963

gelatin-silver print, 20 x 16 inches (sheet) [50.8 x 40.6 cm]

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Peter HujarPalermo Catacombs #9

1963

gelatin-silver print, 20 x 16 inches (sheet) [50.8 x 40.6 cm]

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Peter HujarPalermo Catacombs #8

1963

gelatin-silver print, 20 x 16 inches (sheet) [50.8 x 40.6 cm]

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Peter HujarPalermo Catacombs #2

1963

gelatin-silver print, 20 x 16 inches (sheet) [50.8 x 40.6 cm]

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Peter HujarPalermo Catacombs #6

1963

gelatin-silver print, 20 x 16 inches (sheet) [50.8 x 40.6 cm]

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Peter HujarPalermo Catacombs #13

1963

gelatin-silver print, 20 x 16 inches (sheet) [50.8 x 40.6 cm]

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Peter HujarPalermo Catacombs #5

1963

gelatin-silver print, 20 x 16 inches (sheet) [50.8 x 40.6 cm]

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Peter HujarPalermo Catacombs #7

1963

gelatin-silver print, 20 x 16 inches (sheet) [50.8 x 40.6 cm]

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Peter HujarPalermo Catacombs #4

1963

gelatin-silver print, 20 x 16 inches (sheet) [50.8 x 40.6 cm]

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Peter HujarPalermo Catacombs #10

1963

gelatin-silver print, 20 x 16 inches (sheet) [50.8 x 40.6 cm]

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Peter HujarPalermo Catacombs #12

1963

gelatin-silver print, 20 x 16 inches (sheet) [50.8 x 40.6 cm]

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Related Portfolios

Peter Hujar: Animals

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Peter Hujar: Animals

To Hujar, who grew up on a farm, animals and people were of equal interest. His photographs of dogs, horses, and cows seem to convey a mutual recognition between photographer and subject, a sort of calm acknowledgement.

Peter Hujar, Horse in Harness (I), 1969

gelatin silver print, 20 x 16 inches (sheet) [50.8 x 40.6 cm]

Black-and-white photograph of a seated dog with a wrinkled face and coat — Peter Hujar, Will: Char-Pei (I), 1985 / printed later

pigment print, 20 x 16 inches (sheet) [50.8 x 40.6 cm]

Black-and-white photograph of three sheep in a field. — Peter Hujar, Sheep, Pennsylvania, 1969 / printed later

pigment print, 20 x 16 inches (sheet) [50.8 x 40.6 cm]

Black-and-white photograph of the face of a cow. — Peter Hujar, Backlit Cow, 1969

gelatin silver print, 16-3/4 x 13-7/8 inches (sheet) [42.5 x 35.1 cm]

Black and white photograph of a black dog — Peter Hujar, Clarissa Dalrymple’s Dog, Kirsten, 1984

gelatin silver print, 20 x 16 inches (sheet) [50.8 x 40.6 cm]

Black-and-white photograph of a dark horse chewing on a wooden fencepost with a pasture in the background — Peter Hujar, Horse, Warwick, R.I., 1979

gelatin silver print, 20 x 16 inches (sheet) [50.8 x 40.6 cm]

Black-and-white photograph of two cows with white faces standing sideways with their heads turned to the viewer — Peter Hujar, Butch and Buster, 1978 / printed later

pigment print, 20 x 16 inches (sheet) [50.8 x 40.6 cm]

Black-and-white photograph of a foal in a harness following its mother's tail — Peter Hujar, Colt with Mother, Italy, 1975

gelatin silver print, 20 x 16 inches (sheet) [50.8 x 40.6 cm]

Peter HujarHorse in Harness (I)

1969

gelatin silver print, 20 x 16 inches (sheet) [50.8 x 40.6 cm]

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Peter HujarWill: Char-Pei (I)

1985 / printed later

pigment print, 20 x 16 inches (sheet) [50.8 x 40.6 cm]

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Peter HujarSheep, Pennsylvania

1969 / printed later

pigment print, 20 x 16 inches (sheet) [50.8 x 40.6 cm]

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Peter HujarBacklit Cow

1969

gelatin silver print, 16-3/4 x 13-7/8 inches (sheet) [42.5 x 35.1 cm]

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Peter HujarClarissa Dalrymple’s Dog, Kirsten

1984

gelatin silver print, 20 x 16 inches (sheet) [50.8 x 40.6 cm]

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Peter HujarHorse, Warwick, R.I.

1979

gelatin silver print, 20 x 16 inches (sheet) [50.8 x 40.6 cm]

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Peter HujarButch and Buster

1978 / printed later

pigment print, 20 x 16 inches (sheet) [50.8 x 40.6 cm]

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Peter HujarColt with Mother, Italy

1975

gelatin silver print, 20 x 16 inches (sheet) [50.8 x 40.6 cm]

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Black and white photograph of a man leaning against a tree in a park at night

Peter Hujar: Night

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Peter Hujar: Night

Hujar’s sometimes playful, often bleak photographs of New York after sunset show revelers of the nightlife and a decaying urban landscape, all wrapped in a velvety blackness broken only by street lamps, fluorescent building windows, and the camera’s flash.

Black-and-white photograph of city buildings lit up from inside standing above a parking lot — Peter Hujar, Night Skyline and Parking Lots, 1976

gelatin-silver print, 20 x 16 inches (sheet) [50.8 x 40.6 cm]

Black-and-white photograph of an empty street with marquees and tinsel arches spanning the road — Peter Hujar, San Gennaro Street Fair at Dawn (I), 1976

gelatin-silver print, 20 x 16 inches (sheet) [50.8 x 40.6 cm]

Black-and-white photograph of two women peering out from a snow-covered tent filled with stacks of newspapers — Peter Hujar, Newsstand, 96 Street and Broadway, 1957

gelatin-silver print, 20 x 16 inches (sheet) [50.8 x 40.6 cm]

Black-and-white photograph of city buildings with lighted windows above a glowing street — Peter Hujar, Night, Downtown, 1976 / printed later

pigment print, 20 x 16 inches (sheet) [50.8 x 40.6 cm]

Black-and-white photograph of a small care parked on a cobbled street below an overpass — Peter Hujar, Triumph, 1976 / printed later

pigment print, 20 x 16 inches (sheet) [50.8 x 40.6 cm]

Black-and-white photograph of a person with curly hair, lipstick, and pearl necklace with a lily flower tucked behind one ear — Peter Hujar, Drag Queen With Flower, Halloween, 1980

gelatin-silver print, 20 x 16 inches (sheet) [50.8 x 40.6 cm]

Black-and-white photograph of thin bare trees lit up with a camera flash at night — Peter Hujar, Trees with Flash, New Jersey, 1975

gelatin-silver print, 20 x 16 inches (sheet) [50.8 x 40.6 cm]

Black-and-white photograph of a shuttered garage door painted with NO PARKING and single car parked in an adjacent driveway on a cobbled street — Peter Hujar, No Parking, 1976 / printed later

pigment print, 20 x 16 inches (sheet) [50.8 x 40.6 cm]

Peter HujarNight Skyline and Parking Lots

1976

gelatin-silver print, 20 x 16 inches (sheet) [50.8 x 40.6 cm]

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Peter HujarSan Gennaro Street Fair at Dawn (I)

1976

gelatin-silver print, 20 x 16 inches (sheet) [50.8 x 40.6 cm]

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Peter HujarNewsstand, 96 Street and Broadway

1957

gelatin-silver print, 20 x 16 inches (sheet) [50.8 x 40.6 cm]

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Peter HujarNight, Downtown

1976 / printed later

pigment print, 20 x 16 inches (sheet) [50.8 x 40.6 cm]

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Peter HujarTriumph

1976 / printed later

pigment print, 20 x 16 inches (sheet) [50.8 x 40.6 cm]

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Peter HujarDrag Queen With Flower, Halloween

1980

gelatin-silver print, 20 x 16 inches (sheet) [50.8 x 40.6 cm]

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Peter HujarTrees with Flash, New Jersey

1975

gelatin-silver print, 20 x 16 inches (sheet) [50.8 x 40.6 cm]

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Peter HujarNo Parking

1976 / printed later

pigment print, 20 x 16 inches (sheet) [50.8 x 40.6 cm]

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Black-and-white vertical photograph of a standing man wearing a jock strap.

Peter Hujar: Portraits

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Peter Hujar: Portraits

The composed portraits of lovers, friends, and artists of New York’s Downtown milieu, often photographed in Hujar’s own loft, capture each sitter in an unrestrained moment of openness and connection.