A lot people have taste but they don’t have the courage to be creative – Bill Cunningham
Waching the documentary Bill Cunningham New York reminded me how important it is to be authentic – in whatever I do.
Cunningham is an InnovActor, someone who is authentic and action-oriented. As a photographer for the New York Times Style Section, he photographs trends on the street from a democratic perspective. His work is not prescriptive, it is descriptive. He sees something and then he stays alert to see if it reappears and builds into a trend. Anna Wintour of American Vogue says “we all dress for Bill” and that if he ignores you “it’s like death.” I don’t think Bill thinks of his work in such dour terms. He is a cheerful octogenarian who rides his bike around town taking pictures of cool-looking “kids.” He is old enough to get away with calling just about anybody a kid.
A lot of people have great ideas like Mr. Cunningham did. But, unlike him, we don’t always have the courage to follow-through on them. I watched the documentary with so much glee because I felt emboldened by his passion. He recognizes that he is not a technically great photographer but he knows that he has something to contribute, a fresh perspective and he devotes himself completely to that vision. He does not tug at his weaknesses, he embraces his strengths.
Cunningham started taking photos before he had enough money for color printing but he took them because he was committed and put his vision into action. He did it awkwardly in black and white and then explosively in color, when the resources became available.
Cunningham’s work chronicles how ordinary people adapt the designers’ creations. I like that he is not interested in denigrating people or making anyone feel privileged. He once stopped working for a publication because they had changed one of his copies to make fun of the people he shot on the street. His is a democratic vision of fashion. Fashion is the way we make every day life lighter, brighter.
To be honest and straight in New York is like Don Quixote fighting windmills. - Bill Cunningham
This man is as principled in his work as he is in his life.“Money is Cheap. Freedom is expensive,” is the statement most emblematic of his character. He worked for the original Details Magazine (before it was bought by Conde Nast) and he never took money because as he said “I worked for the establishment {New York Times} during the day and when I got here {Details Magazine} it was like a bird getting out of a cage.” If you don’t talk money, they don’t own you, you can do whatever you like, he says.
His contempt for money led colleagues to think that he came from a privileged family and that he was assiduously staking out a place free of the trappings of the golden cage that such upbringing means for some. But he confesses that he came from working class people. He’s just a guy who loves life, beauty, and his freedom.
He’s over 80 years old and he’s the coolest dude on a bike in New York City!
