Morgan Library to Exhibit Peter Hujar's 5,783 Contact Sheets

The Morgan Library & Museum will present 'Hujar: Contact' from May 22 to October 25, 2026, showcasing over 110 contact sheets and 20 enlargements from its collection of photographer Peter Hujar's work. In 2013, the Morgan acquired 5,783 black-and-white contact sheets Hujar left at his death, along with two job books recording assignments from 1954 to 1985. The exhibition treats contact sheets as objects for study, revealing Hujar's handwritten notes and cropping decisions. Large-scale reproductions of job book pages will offer a chronological view, with the earliest entry from 1954. Curator Joel Smith notes that contact sheets reveal Hujar's habits and inspirations. The show pairs contact sheets with prints, including previously unexhibited works, to show how portraits evolved through exchange between photographer and subject. Hujar, who died of AIDS-related pneumonia at 53, gained critical acclaim posthumously for his portraits of downtown Manhattan's queer art scene. His famous works include 'Orgasmic Man' (1969) and the final portrait of Candy Darling on her deathbed.