PHOTO REVIEW:Peter Hujar-Speed of Life

One of the most impressive photographic exhibitions in Paris is “Speed of Life” with works by Peter Hujar at Jeu de Paume.  The life and art of Peter Hujarwere rooted in New York, Hujar inhabited a world of Avant-Garde dance, music, art, and drag performance. His mature career paralleled the public unfolding of gay life between the Stonewall uprising in 1969 and the AIDS crisis of the 1980s, without being obsessive, also, he captures with his lens the nature and scenes of everyday life in a completely natural way with perfect black-and-white techniques, without losing the emotion. Through the path that the exhibition inscribes the viewer discovers the truth of a real meaningful photographer with a poetic glance, without impressions and without the need for a specific concept. In the case of Peter Hujar, the concept is life itself, the people and the nature. Also, observing his work, we goes back to his Ukrainian roots (He was raised by his Ukrainian grandparents on their farm, where he spoke only Ukrainian until he started school), and that explains the fact that Peter Hujar’s own influences on photography do not resemble anything of the Americans of his generation, but he seems to have been profoundly influenced by Hungarian and Czech photographers. that’s why all his photos are great!!!-Efi Michalarou

Info: Curators: Joel Smith and Quentin Bajac, Jeu de Paume, 1 place de la Concorde, Paris, Duration: 15/10/19-19/1/20, Days & Hours: Tue 11:00-21:00, Wed-Sun 11:00-19:00, www.jeudepaume.org