Correction: The original version of this article contained an error. Bill Cunningham usually shoots on Fifth Avenue and Fifty Seventh Street.
Every day, New York Times photographer Bill Cunningham puts on his blue workman’s parka and rides out into the streets on his Schwinn bicycle with a 35mm camera in hand.
On the constant prowl for snapping whatever catches his eye on the streets of New York, Cunningham’s distinct eye for fashion can be seen every week in his New York Times street style column “On the Street” and his society column “Evening Hours.”
Intensely private and adored by the fashion industry, the elusive photographer is the subject of director Richard Press’ documentary, “Bill Cunningham New York,” which will be screening at the J. Paul Getty Museum Wednesday night, followed by a Q&A with producer Philip Gefter.
The critically acclaimed film is a portrait of Cunningham, capturing moments of his daily life intermixed with aspects of his private life, with commentary from his friends and the subjects of his photographs. Gefter said that he and Press had to learn to navigate Cunningham’s moods in order to film him throughout the day.
“For example, I would say to him, “˜Bill, we want to follow you while you’re photographing on the street, so what time are you going out today?’ and he would say “˜I don’t know, I don’t know’ and then sneak out,” Gefter said. “But if we just showed up and be there on Fifth Avenue and Fifty Seventh Street, he would reward us with his cooperation. It was a kind of dance.”
From that year of filming, film editor Ryan Denmark had approximately 100 hours of footage to work through in order to create a succinct narrative for the film. Denmark said what immediately stood out from the film was Cunningham’s natural openness to the camera.
“Bill is so extremely private, yet … when he sits down in front of a camera, he forgets the camera is there and becomes incredibly engaging and open,” Denmark said.
Longtime friend and founding editor of the original Details magazine Annie Flanders, who featured much of Cunningham’s work in her magazine, said that Cunningham’s vast knowledge of fashion gave him a keen eye for forecasting burgeoning design.
“Bill would write whatever he saw and recognized as great design, and then a season later, all the editors would jump on that designer. But it was the next collection, and it wasn’t always great,” Flanders said. “Bill totally knows what’s good. He understands it, and he isn’t afraid to commit to what he believes in.”
In the film, Cunningham is shown to live a simple lifestyle, preferring to live on a single foam mattress in an apartment without a kitchen to make more room for his collection of work over the years. Likewise, Cunningham is shown to constantly be at work and refusing to partake in the festivities of the events that he covers.
“Bill will not take a glass of water or sit down at any event he’s covering, even when he’s being honored at it,” Flanders said. “He will be the photographer. When the “˜Bill Cunningham New York’ movie opened in New York, Bill was the photographer who was photographing the people coming in, but he did not see the film.”
According to Gefter, Cunningham still has not seen the film, although the notoriety from the film’s success provides obstacles for Cunningham in his daily line of work.
“People are coming up to him constantly, and it drives him crazy because he really just wants to work,” Gefter said. “That’s the one thing that Richard and I feel bad about. We apologize to him often about it. Sometimes he’s very polite and sometimes he’s very annoyed.”
To this day though, the sprightly 82-year-old Cunningham is still snapping photos and riding his bicycle all over New York City. Flanders said that Cunningham will continue working as long as he can get up and click a camera.
“His passion is for the clothes, for how they’re made, how they look, how women wear them,” Flanders said. “It’s his main interest in life and his main passion. He shows himself so well. There isn’t a moment in the film where he isn’t who he is.”