Paul Thek, also American, was best known for his wax sculptures resembling meat and flesh, working across sculpture, painting and installations, but often destroying or losing pieces which contributed to his obscurity in the art world. Both were part of the downtown New York avant-garde, mixing the 1960s art world scene and the grittier East Village of the late 1970s - 1980s. Part of a larger community that included personalities such as Fran Lebowitz, Susan Sontag, Andy Warhol, Ann Wilson, they lived a tumultuous life together and apart, which comes across in Thek’s letters and Hujar’s photographs.

The current volume gathers Thek’s letters starting with his voyage to the Netherlands in 1962, accompanied by Hujar’s photographs from as early as 1956 when the two met and spent time together at length. Due to uncertain travel plans that defined both men’s lives (and a tendency to lose his [Thek’s] belongings), we only see Thek’s letters, Hujar’s voice staying absent throughout the book. However, his voice is replaced by his photographs, giving them an unexpected weight as documents; ephemeral objects serve as primary artistic documentation, rather than simple biographical material.