In the 1980s, Nelson Sullivan was ubiquitous in the downtown NYC art and club scene, documenting his community and culture on his handheld video camera.
Above, Sullivan, wearing an outfit designed for him by RuPaul, tours NYC’s 1989 Gay Pride Parade.
Sullivan died of a heart attack in 1989 at age 41, just a few days after quitting his day job to turn his talent for DIY video into a public access television show. Sullivan’s video archive is now part of New York University’s Fales Library & Special Collections. More of Sullivan’s work here.
(Thanks UPSO, via /r/ObscureMedia)
