Peter Hujar was a central figure in New York City’s East Village art scene during the 1970s and 1980s. He became best known for portraits of drag queens and cultural personalities like filmmaker John Waters and artist David Wojnarowicz. Like many of his portraits, this photograph has a restrained erotic charge. Hujar cultivated a personal connection with his sitters, often based on sexual attraction, that emphasized their vulnerability. He isolated his subject in a neutral space, to encourage uninhibited contemplation and easy nakedness, and maintained constant conversation, to help sitters relax and perform as themselves for the camera. As fellow artist Nan Goldin recalled, “He captured people at their most quiet and introspective, externalizing their internal selves, achieving that rare balance of exposing the beauty of the flesh while making visible the spirit.”
