This past weekend, the fashion world paid tribute to Bill Cunningham, the legendary street style photographer, who passed away.
I’ve seen Bill Cunningham a few times in action at New York Fashion Week. I’ve been luckily enough to talk to him twice. He photographed me once outside the Donna Karan fashion show at Cedar Lake, February 2015. He talked to me about my handbag, which was shaped like a cat. He wanted to know who designed it, where I bought it and how old it was. He started telling me about a Japanese designer that reminded him of the bag, fully engrossed in the subject while editors and buyers were being rushed into the venue by PR assistants with iPads. His sense of curiosity and dedication to the art of fashion was unlike anything I’ve ever seen from today’s street style photographers. It was a freezing cold day, and he was still wearing his signature blue jacket. As much as he was taking photos of everyone else, people were taking photos of him, laughing, waving and trying to chat with him. Most interestingly, he had an interest in talking to a variety of people–not just the big name editors, buyers or fashion paparazzi. I think that’s what makes his work so powerful–he doesn’t just photograph models. He takes a true look at fashion on the streets.
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