March 24: The Man Behind the Camera at MoMA
The most unassuming person on the social scene is also the most discerning, and the one who will put you in pictures. Literally.
He is Bill Cunningham, the most un-man-about-town, man-about-town in town. Any socialite worth her salt knows Mr. Cunningham—on site—and knows how to cross one leg in front of the other and cock her head just so to pose for his omniscient camera. Bill and his apparatus are indeed everywhere. The longtime fashion photographer (who used to be a fashion designer) for The New York Times-who snaps partygoers galore for his two columns, “On the Street” and “Evening Hours”—is seen all over town, but barely talks to anyone, such is his level of busy-ness, and humility. There is no one who knows the town better, though. I bet anyone a year’s subscription to Town & Country on that.
The humble Cunningham is now the subject of a new documentary entitled, “Bill Cunningham New York” at New Directors/New Films, the annual series that is a joint effort of Film Society of Lincoln Center and the Museum of Modern Art. Ironically, it was Cunningham’s film that kicked off the series, this past Wednesday, March 24 at MoMA, one of 38 films total, including 27 features and 11 shorts from filmmakers from 20 countries.
The piece follows Mr. Cunningham on his assignments for the Styles Sections of The New York Times, and chronicles his life and work over eight decades. Reportedly, it took director Richard Press and producer Philip Gefter (the latter of whom is a former staff member for The Times) seven years to get Mr. Cunningham to say yes to appearing in front of the camera. He considers himself “a hack”—an eighty-year-old hack, that is, who makes his way around Gotham on a bicycle to nearly every party thrown. Surely one would think that after so many years and such an illustrious career, he could afford a taxi or two. Perhaps a bicycle is the more expedient method. This author has seen him perched on his two wheels, smack in the middle of an intersection in Chelsea, snapping away at the passersby, for some whimsical reason of his choosing—red being in season that season, or the onset of the trench come springtime, or shorter or longer pants. There is no one who knows trends, or clothing, better, and no one who wants to be in his pictures more. This author was once one of his subjects, caught in my Tibi skirt that reads “Hong Kong” on the front, part of a page that Bill did on the fashion company in the summer of 2000 for Sunday Styles. I was all too happy to have my fashion claim to fame, and be one of the chosen ones. Happy are we who are called to his camera.
Tagged in: lux exclusives, bill cunningham, film society of lincoln center, moma, richard press, the new york times,
