In the early 1980s, Wojnarowicz was photographed by his lover, friend, and artistic mentor Peter Hujar, the New York artist known for chronicling the city’s downtown subculture through intimate black-and-white portraits. Here, Wojnarowicz’s melancholic gaze and the dramatic shadows crossing his body create a portentous portrait of loss and grief.
Student response:
I am privileged to have never experienced the death of a loved one, but as a descendant of Holocaust survivors, I was raised to be aware of death. Whether one has been near death or not, I imagine that many people—too many—across the world can identify with Wojnarowicz. Dejection. Fatigue. Hopelessness. Parents, children, friends, and neighbors lost to COVID-19. With all the loss that is dominating my conversations and newsfeeds, I often forget that AIDS still mercilessly ravages communities. However, when I look at this photograph, I am reminded that AIDS has not ceased to exist. To me, this photograph humanizes people affected by AIDS and demonstrates their pain. When I engage the artwork, I feel their inescapable pain. On World AIDS Day, may this work remind us that, whether by COVID-19, AIDS, or other forms of illness or suffering, we will all experience death and loss. When the day comes that I will have to face the death of a loved one, I don’t know if I’ll be prepared or petrified, but I know I will survive, just like the generations of my family before me.
Benjy Jude ’23
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