Peter Hujar by: Helmut Lang

 Helmut Lang released the fourth part of his Artist Series and this part is dedicated to the work of the late photographer Peter Hujar.

Peter Hujar (October 11, 1934 – November 26, 1987) was an American photographer best known for his black and white portraits. Hujar's work was known for stripping his subjects of their identity down to their innate, vulnerable forms. His photography has also been known to capture the individuality of each of his subjects. Whether his subject was a person, animal, or object—Hujar stressed that each is one of a kind.

In New York, Hujar was part of the downtown art scene. He appeared in one of Andy Warhol's Screen Tests. He worked for a spell for successful commercial photographer Harold Krieger and shot for Harper's Bazaar and GQ. He moved into his deceased friend Jackie Curtis's loft at 189 2nd Avenue. Hujar took many photos of his friends, combining many of them with his Palermo photos for a book called Portraits in Life and Death, published in 1976 by Da Capo Press.

Today, his work has been remembered by Helmut Lang's exclusive line of art-inspired items which include three of Hujar's iconic images from 1969, titled, Orgasmic Man I, Orgasmic Man II, and Orgasmic Man III.

• Photos courtesy of Helmut Lang, by Peter Hujar