On December 18, 1974, Linda Rosenkrantz asked her friend Peter Hujar to write down everything he did one day. Peter recounted the events over a tape-recorded sittingโ the transcript becoming this wonderful little book published by Magic Hour Press.
Peter makes a phone call at noon to the home of Allen Ginsberg with hopes of completing a commissioned portrait of the poet for the Times. When he finally gets through they agree to meet in three-quarters of an hour to make the photographs. This casualness struck me. Could you imagine a photoshoot happening for the New York Times today without an agent, photo editor, and a negotiation? On December 18, 1974, it was just a phone call from artist to artist seeing if they could link in 45 to bang it out.
