‘He was a born member of the underground’: how Peter Hujar captured the New York demimonde

 

‘He was a born member of the underground’: how Peter Hujar captured the New York demimonde

This article is more than 4 months old

He only published one book – and it was hardly noticed. Now his portraits of drag queens, poets and artists are seen as vital documents of a vanished world. As they go on show, the photographer’s favourite subjects recall his genius

Alex Needham

Mon 15 Apr 2024 16.51 BST

H

e made me wear white,” says Fran Lebowitz, down the phone from New York. The writer is talking about the day her close friend, the photographer Peter Hujar, shot her for Portraits in Life and Death, the only book he ever made. “Peter was very specific. It was in my apartment which was the size of, I don’t know, a book. And the light was a big thing – as it was with all photographers, back when they were actually photographers.”

The best shot / The magic of Kate Moss, by her photographers

‘She’s deeply intelligent on a body level’ … Kate Moss in 1990 by Kate Garner. Photograph: Kate Garner/Zebra One Gallery

‘She keeps us enthralled, like Bowie did’: the magic of Kate Moss, by her photographers

What’s it like to photograph the supermodel? As she hits 50, five photographers relive their shoots – from capturing her in a transparent dress to putting her in bed with Lucian Freud

Interviews by Alex Needham

Thu 11 Jan 2024 05.00 GM

What’s it like to photograph the supermodel? As she hits 50, five photographers relive their shoots – from capturing her in a transparent dress to putting her in bed with Lucian Freud

Fashion icon, artist’s muse, queen of rock’n’roll … for more than 30 years, Kate Moss has been at the cutting edge. In her first landmark photoshoot with the late Corinne Day, the then teenage model embodied the blissed-out spirit and optimism of the early 90s. Since then, she’s been painted by Lucian Freud, sculpted by Marc Quinn, sung about by her ex Pete Doherty, and even rapped about by Playboi Carti and Kanye West. So what makes the Croydon beauty such an object of fascination? As she turns 50, five photographers who have taken classic images of the model share their thoughts.