18Stay Away From Nothing by Peter Hujar and Paul Thek<\/a><\/p>\n From that initial encounter, their fluctuating relationship \u2013 part love affair, part friendship, part creative alliance \u2013 would endure until 1975, spanning travels across Europe and the US. Their compelling story is partially preserved in their photographs of one another and in a fitful but fevered correspondence (sadly, only Thek\u2019s letters have survived). Now, these precious relics have been gathered together in a new book, Stay Away From Nothing, published by Primary Information.<\/p>\n The book\u2019s editor, Francis Schichtel, was immersed in the process of digitising The Peter Hujar Archive when he became fascinated by the pair. \u201cI went through every roll of film, beginning to end, and saw their relationship unfold in the negatives. I felt like I\u2019d seen all their travels and experiments \u2013 not just Peter photographing Paul and vice versa, but all the stories people told about them. Their artistic histories are so interesting, especially because Paul\u2019s most important work is gone, and Peter didn\u2019t become famous until after he died. And yet, people around them kept their story alive, even if nothing was ever totally clear,\u201d says Schichtel. \u201cIt all had this mythical, unclear quality, which drew me in.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n While there\u2019s a discontinuity in the conversation \u2013 Thek didn\u2019t have a good track record for keeping hold of his belongings \u2013 reading one side of the exchange, it feels possible to imaginatively trace the contours of Hujar in the absence of his response. \u201cWhen I first found the letters in the archive, they were all out of order,\u201d recalls Schichtel. \u201cAs I organised them, I was worried it would be a problem that only Paul\u2019s letters survived, but, actually, it makes things more interesting. You fill in the blanks for yourself; you get on Peter\u2019s side \u2013 receiving the letters, wondering how he\u2019d feel reading them.\u201d<\/p>\n For Schichtel, one of his favourite examples from the correspondence is a 1961 postcard from Long Island beach. Thek\u2019s circled one lone bather from among the crowds and scrawled on the back, \u201cA photograph of happy persons, except me, I am seen looking for you.\u201d Another particularly memorable section is Thek\u2019s first trip to Europe in 1962, before he meets Hujar in Italy. \u201cThe letters from that journey have such a sense of excitement and adventure. There are these bursts, these segments where Paul writes prolifically. That part always feels especially beautiful to me.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Reading the letters and postcards in Thek\u2019s own handwriting with doodles and annotations feels far more intimate and alive than reading a transcription. \u201cI understood Thek\u2019s work better after these letters,\u201d Schichtel continues. \u201cAcademic writing makes him seem so untouchable, but in the letters he\u2019s funny, self-aware, and doesn\u2019t take himself seriously.\u201d This private correspondence shows the artist to be charming, spontaneous, irreverent, and not a little demanding. \u201cPaul is always asking Peter for things!\u201d Schichtel says, \u201cEvery letter, he\u2019s got a request. I sometimes wondered if Peter was annoyed!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n What insights can we gain from Hujar\u2019s photography over the course of his relationship with Thek? \u201cYou can see him get more serious and figure out what he wanted his work to mean, and it tracks with how he photographed Paul, too \u2013 it becomes more experimental, more intimate,\u201d says Schichtel. Yet, while Hujar\u2019s technique becomes more refined, more distinctive, his vision is remarkably lucid from the beginning. \u201cThere\u2019s an early photo where Paul is sitting on a couch, his head resting against the wall. It\u2019s beautifully composed, but when you compare it to the later works, that signature style becomes clear. Peter wasn\u2019t reinventing the wheel, but the work feels so him \u2013 especially the final photos in the book from the 1970s.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/a>
![\"Stay](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/467172.jpeg\")
Photograph by Peter Hujar, 1961Courtesy of Primary Information. \u00a9 Estate of Paul Thek, Peter Hujar Archive, and Primary Information<\/p>\n<\/a>
![\"Stay](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/467162.jpeg\")
Photograph by Peter Hujar, 1967Courtesy of Primary Information. \u00a9 Estate of Paul Thek, Peter Hujar Archive, and Primary Information<\/p>\n
![\"Stay](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/467160.jpeg\")
Photograph by Peter Hujar, 1966Courtesy of Primary Information. \u00a9 Estate of Paul Thek, Peter Hujar Archive, and Primary Information<\/p>\n