STREET SMARTS
Bill Cunningham took aim at Fashion
Bill Cunningham was a creative fixture on the New York fashion scene. He was 87 years young when he passed away in 2016. He ran a very popular street fashion column called “On the Street,” and for more than 40 years, his photographs appeared in the New York Times.
He was a real dedicated street photographer cruising around the city on his bike or walking, running and crouching to get the best shot of the fashion parade everyday in New York City. He shot in wind, rain, snow and the heat of summer. Nothing stopped bill in his desire to capture that day’s fashion.
A marvelous new book, Bill Cunningham: On the Street was released this month and is edited by his New York Times editor, Tiina Loite. Anna Wintour said of Bill, “We all dressed for Bill.” And it was true. We hoped we looked cool enough for bill to grace us with a momentary stop and photograph us. He was tireless, driven, enthusiastic and the perfect recorder of fleeting fashion trends. He was always sure when he rushed in with that days photos, that he had developed at a local drugstore, that he had captured the latest thing in fashion. He was usually right.
Bill approached my Publisher and I one beautiful late fall day as we were rushing from one appointment to the next to shoot us and we were filled with excitement. He physically and kindly, yet firmly pushed me out of the picture because he said he was shooting only mens fashion that day. I was crushed. He had tremendous power and influence but was never ever interested in that, he just wanted to turn in his morning shoot to the New York Times and go out on his bicycle and shoot some more. He is missed. Some rare talent can never be replaced, and Bill is one of them. Here are some of his photographs:
All images from Bill Cunningham Foundation LLC.
