An Elusive Photographer Caught on Film
You may have seen him on a bike somewhere in Manhattan, a flashing presence in a blue coat. Maybe he was at a gala or a fundraiser, if you happen to frequent those kinds of events. But where it’s easiest to find Bill Cunningham these days is in the pages of the New York Times, with his weekly fashio
You may have seen him on a bike somewhere in Manhattan, a flashing presence in a blue coat. Maybe he was at a gala or a fundraiser, if you happen to frequent those kinds of events. But where it’s easiest to find Bill Cunningham these days is in the pages of the New York Times, with his weekly fashion photo column On the Street picking up on the prevailing trends of that week in New York City dress. On the street, the 83-year old fashion photographer and aesthetic documentarian is tough to spot, much less pin down. It is Bill Cunningham’s own elusiveness that makes Richard Press’s new documentary Bill Cunningham New York so fascinating: the 92 minute movie is defined by its attempt to get to know a character and an artist whose work and life are completely inseparable.
Born in 1928, Bill dropped out of Harvard to move to New York City and work as a hat-maker (milliner is the vocab term I learned) under the name of William J. His hats were popular among the fashion and society set, but where Bill really thrived was as a writer and photographer. After a start working for the Chicago Tribune, he pioneered early American fashion journalism, and with a chance photo of star actress Greta Garbo in a nutria coat that just happened to catch his eye, Bill launched into photography, shooting for the New York Times and Women’s Wear Daily.
Those unfamiliar with Cunningham’s work will find in the film a portrait of an older man, continually obsessed with his work and yet always able to turn a joke or take a self-deprecating jab at his own career. For those already in the know about Cunningham’s street fashion photography (and know his voice from innumerable Times photo slideshows), this short-but-sweet documentary is like getting back in touch with a kindly bohemian uncle who never really grew up, and never, ever got tired of his job. On screen, Bill is a joyful character who never fails to reiterate his love for fashion and the inspiration he gets from clothing. The man’s obsession is more passion than neurosis, and the audience is welcome to share in Cunningham’s eyes-wide-open perspective.
It’s Bill’s job, of course, that dominates the narrative of the film. There’s scarcely a moment he isn’t traveling to an event, snapping a photo, or getting distracted by a well-garbed stranger on the street. Audiences are even privy to a behind-the-scenes peek into the New York Times offices and the paper’s photo department, with several arduous sequences of photo editing to show the work behind Bill’s On the Street column. Arrangements are tweaked, photos are re-cropped. The intimacy that Press has with Cunningham is surprising given the photographer’s reticence; even beginning to shoot the film, Press had to negotiate with Cunningham for access to his rarely-seen personal life, his apartment, his routine.
The most touching scenes of the film are when Press asks Bill point-blank what we were all thinking throughout the film — an 80 year old man, always working, eating out at cheap diners, an ascetic apartment. What keeps him going? Does he have any significant relationships besides glancing friendships with the subjects of his photos? As it turns out, at least according to the on-screen interviews, Bill isn’t gay, he’s not closeted and scarred from past experiences or an oppressive childhood. He just doesn’t think about it (meaning relationships and sex); he’s too focused on his work, and there has always been so much to do. The revelation that Bill is a devoted church-goer seems to provide some further answers, too.
Bill Cunningham New York is a film with a lot of heart, and that heart is Cunningham himself. It’s worth seeing, if not for the fashion or the 20th-century aesthetic history, than for a glimpse into a driven artistic soul who always manages to make his work about the world he loves and not about himself.
Bill Cunningham New York is playing at the IFC Center (323 Avenue of the Americas) and City Cinemas Village East Cinema (181-189 Second Avenue). The film is also playing at indieScreen Cinema (285 Kent Avenue, Williamsburg) from April 14 to 17 See the trailer below.
