Last year in my photography class, my teacher showed us a fascinating documentary about a certain photographer named Bill Cunningham. Most known for roaming around the streets of New York on a bicycle in his blue jacket, one of Bill Cunningham's greatest successes has been his revolution of fashion's street-style culture.
A photographer for the New York Times, Bill's main joy in life is documenting the fashion, trends, and inevitably the people, or birds of paradise as he likes to call them, of the streets. In his documentary, Bill emphasizes his passion for capturing not the highly-demanded pictures of celebrities, but rather the photos of clothes and people he deems most compelling, stating that for him, it's all about the clothes.
And, I guess, this is the reason that I like Bill so much (besides the fact that he is extremely adorable), is that he has a true and sincere love of fashion. Most photographers, especially street photographers, try to take the pictures that will sell for the most money, but not Bill. In fact, at his first job he purposefully didn't want to be paid because, as he put it, if you don't accept money, they can't tell you what to do.
For anyone who hasn't seen it, I would highly recommend this documentary (officially titled "Bill Cunningham New York")! I found it super intriguing to learn about the life of someone behind the camera for once, instead of focusing on the pictures they're taking. Plus, Bill's charming personality is reason enough to watch!
Below I just included some of my favorite examples of Bill's pictures in his "On the Street" section of the New York Times. Enjoy!
A photographer for the New York Times, Bill's main joy in life is documenting the fashion, trends, and inevitably the people, or birds of paradise as he likes to call them, of the streets. In his documentary, Bill emphasizes his passion for capturing not the highly-demanded pictures of celebrities, but rather the photos of clothes and people he deems most compelling, stating that for him, it's all about the clothes.
And, I guess, this is the reason that I like Bill so much (besides the fact that he is extremely adorable), is that he has a true and sincere love of fashion. Most photographers, especially street photographers, try to take the pictures that will sell for the most money, but not Bill. In fact, at his first job he purposefully didn't want to be paid because, as he put it, if you don't accept money, they can't tell you what to do.
For anyone who hasn't seen it, I would highly recommend this documentary (officially titled "Bill Cunningham New York")! I found it super intriguing to learn about the life of someone behind the camera for once, instead of focusing on the pictures they're taking. Plus, Bill's charming personality is reason enough to watch!
Below I just included some of my favorite examples of Bill's pictures in his "On the Street" section of the New York Times. Enjoy!
(New York Times: July 10, 2011)
(New York Times: July 24, 2011)
(New York Times: February 22, 2004)
Until Next Time!
M.
M.
