SUMMARY
The Morgan Library & Museum's exhibition 'Hujar: Contact' features over 5,700 of photographer Peter Hujar's contact sheets, providing a detailed look at his editing process. Contact sheets, a film-era precursor to digital catalogs, allowed photographers to review all images from a roll at once. Hujar meticulously marked his sheets with editing notes, revealing his deliberate approach to selecting and printing images. The exhibition, which includes over 110 sheets and 20 enlargements, covers subjects from New York's downtown life and notable figures to the changing landscape of gay life from Stonewall to the AIDS crisis.
TAKEAWAYS
Peter Hujar's archive of over 5,700 contact sheets is the subject of a new exhibition at the Morgan Library & Museum.
Contact sheets served as an essential editing tool in the film era, displaying all images from a roll for review.
Hujar's marked contact sheets offer a lesson in his deliberate photographic editing and selection process.
The exhibition highlights Hujar's work documenting New York life and its cultural shifts from the 1960s to the 1980s.