L: Charles Busch, 1987. R: Sur Rodney Sur, 1980. © Don Herron, courtesy of Daniel Cooney Fine Art
Sur Rodney (Sur): I moved to the East Village in the summer of '76. When I arrived here, the city was broke. The Lower East Side was mainly rubble and you could get a place to live cheaply. There was a very tight community of interdisciplinary artists, poets, writers, dancers, visual artists, and photographers. There was a lot of exchange and we made things happen for ourselves, to keep ourselves engaged as artists. We felt like outsiders, and New York seemed to accommodate that.
L: Holly Woodlawn, 1981. R: Tom Nichols, 1980. © Don Herron, courtesy of Daniel Cooney Fine Art
L: Ellen Stewart, 1993. R: Richard Erker, 1980. © Don Herron, courtesy of Daniel Cooney Fine Art
Busch: The night I went to Limbo Lounge for the first time, I met the owner, Michael Limbo, and arranged to perform there. The show was called Vampire Lesbians of Sodom. I threw together a piece where I was in drag to do for a weekend, and it took off. We did more shows and eventually transferred it to a regular theater. It ran for five years and is one of the longest running plays in the history of Off-Broadway.
L: Peter Hujar, 1978. R: Felice Picano, 1982. © Don Herron, courtesy of Daniel Cooney Fine Art
Sur: In every community, in every city, there are art stars. Don [wanted] specifically to meet those people, and he found some way to find someone who knew someone to put him in touch. Like, he would read Cookie Mueller in the Village Voice, then find someone who knew her so he could photograph her, and she would know three or four other people.
L: Robert Opel, late 1970s. R: Belle de Jour, 1979. © Don Herron, courtesy of Daniel Cooney Fine Art
Sur: Don found me. I don’t know exactly how we met, but he lived on Ninth Street and I lived on St. Marks Place. I remember meeting him and him saying, “I’d really like to photograph you. I am doing a portfolio for something I want to call Underground Celebrities.”
L: Amos Poe filmmaker. R: Elke Rastede, 1982. © Don Herron, courtesy of Daniel Cooney Fine Art
L: Warner Jepson, 1980. R: Jackie Curtis, 1980. © Don Herron, courtesy of Daniel Cooney Fine Art
L: Keith Haring, 1982. R: Phoebe Legere, 1988. © Don Herron, courtesy of Daniel Cooney Fine Art