Paul Thek and Peter Hujar: Stay away from nothing

This book delves into the friendship, romance, and collaboration between Paul Thek (1933–88) and Peter Hujar (1934–87) through more than 50 letters, postcards, drawings, and ephemera that capture their poetic, melancholic, and playful tone, alternating between seduction, glamour, and turmoil. It begins with early portraits of Hujar and Thek’s first letters from a ship bound for Europe, where they reunited in Rome, and follows their travels, romantic adventures, and professional and financial ups and downs until 1975. It includes iconic Hujar photographs of Thek in Italy, studios, on Fire Island beaches, and in the catacombs of Palermo, as well as previously unpublished images such as contact sheets, candid portraits, and playful poses, revealing Thek’s complex emotional interior and their tender, dark, and hopeful connection as artists, lovers, and friends.