Transitions: Bill Cunningham (March 13, 1929-June 25, 2016)
Bill Cunningham was a photographer. Not just any photographer, but the fashion photographer who shot fashion shows, and also captured what people were really wearing on the streets of New York or at at various social gatherings in a series of photos that ran for decades in the New York Times (you are encouraged to read his bio on Wikipedia by clicking the link on his name). Cunningham was gifted intellectually and aesthetically, and possessed an acutely refined sense of style; although he was a fixture at NYC fashion shows and social events, for him, the real show was not on Fashion Week runways, it was on the streets and at the social events of Manhattan. Cunningham died in June of this year after shooting for the Times from 1978 to 2016. He was famous for riding around New York City on his bike and shooting his photos (most of which were for himself…only a very small percentage of what he shot was published). You can learn a lot about a person’s life by the people who are affected by their death; in Cunningham’s case, his life impacted entire layers of society, fashion, publishing, government, and media. A Memorial Service for Cunningham was held on this past Monday at….Carnegie Hall. Click through the photos to see the impact of one man and a camera on the city of New York. This is how an institution leaves a city.
The Fine Print: Image courtesy of Getty Images, who offer an astounding range of photos for just about any topic, including the notoriously reclusive Bill Cunningham. Thanks, guys, for sharing.