John Nelson Sullivan (March 15, 1948 – July 4, 1989) was an American videographer who chronicled life in Downtown Manhattan’s arts and club scene from 1983 until his death. His hundreds of videos documented daily life in the city, wild nights out on the town, and private moments with his many famous friends — including RuPaul, Keith Haring, Sylvia Miles, Larry Tee, Susanne Bartsch, Tom Rubnitz, Lady Bunny, Michael Musto, Ethyl Eichelberger, John Sex, and Michael Alig. Viewed today, Sullivan’s video record of his life represents a pre-Internet form of vlogging, while his frequently used technique of turning the camera to face himself clearly anticipates the modern selfie. In 2012, Sullivan’s video archive was received as a donation by the Fales Library & Special Collections at New York University. Edited versions of select tapes may be viewed on the YouTube channel 5NinthAvenueProject. Early life Sullivan was born in Kershaw, South Carolina, on March 15, 1948. He was the younger of two sons in a family that was attached to a large cotton fortune. When he was about five years old, Sullivan’s family moved next-door to the family of another young boy, James Prioleau Richards III. “Dick” Richards was to become his lifelong friend, artistic partner, and the person most responsible for preserving Sullivan’s archive. Richards recalled, “We were both clocked as sissy/queer early on, which didn’t make for a pleasant school experience.” However, he noted that even their small town offered opportunities for cultural advancement: Sullivan’s mother secured teachers to instruct him in art and the piano, and both boys were well read. Films at the town cinema and shows on television offered tantalizing possibilities of a glittering life far away. These elements, Richards said, “are the deep background for Nelson’s video art — loving to go out to experience the glamour of nightclubs and theater after having envied it so long; relishing the freedom that a large city gives for self-expression that a small town scorns.” After graduating from Davidson College in Davidson, North Carolina, Sullivan moved to Manhattan in 1971. While many men his age were being sent to the Vietnam War, Sullivan was classified 4-F as the result of injuries he received in a near-fatal fall into an abandoned gold mine as a youth. This allowed him the freedom to undertake post-graduate studies, including film school. Sullivan also ran his own hair salon, with a summer location