The legendary “street style” photographer
By GERALD PEARY | April 7, 2011
Richard Press's sweet, heartfelt celebration of the New York Times' fashion photographer, Bill Cunningham, is already a sensation in the Big Apple, where it has smashed box-office records at the Film Forum. It's hard to imagine anyone not responding positively to the story of the legendary "street style" photographer, whose object in his lengthy career is to demonstrate that regular people walking down the sidewalk can rival professional models in the originality and flair of their outfits. Check his "On the Street" photo collage every Sunday in the Times. More fascinating than his photos is Cunningham's austere life: fast food, a tiny apartment without a kitchen and with the bathroom in the hall, the same blue jacket every day, and a Schwinn bike taking him about Manhattan to his assignments, from morning to deep night. Now in his 80s, this charming, kind man remains a mystery: is he the happiest man on earth, or the most closeted and loneliest?
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