Photo: Bill Cunningham October 1974
Bill Cunningham was more than a photographer – he was a social anthropologist documenting the interplay between fashion, the street, and high society over the course of four decades for The New York Times. Outfitted in his signature blue worker’s jacket, Cunningham hopped on his trusted bicycle and sped around the city, hopping off to photograph New York’s most stylish figures from all walks of life before returning to his humble apartment at Carnegie Hall.
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His love of glamour, style, and grace had existed since the early days of his childhood, where he fawned over women’s hats during Sunday church services. In 1948, at the age of 19, he dropped out of Harvard University after just two months and moved to New York City to give life in fashion a go. He launched a line of hats under the name ‘William J’, and by the 1950s his clientele included no less than Marilyn Monroe, Jacqueline Bouvier, and Katherine Hepburn.
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Although Cunningham lived a spare, simple life, his creations were anything but. His love of grandeur and glamour are present everywhere in his work — from his exquisite hats to Façades, an early art project he did with Editta Sherman, also known as the ‘Duchess of Carnegie Hall’. From 1968 to 1976, they created a series of photographs featuring Editta and other models wearing vintage costumes posing in front of Manhattan landmarks dating to the same period.
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When Façades was completed, Cunningham gave a selection of 88 gelatin silver prints from the series to the New-York Historical Society, launching a lifelong relationship with the organisation that spanned the next 40 years. After his death, his friends began donating Cunningham’s personal effects to the Society, giving us a rare glimpse into the life of a man who maintained an incredible balance between the public and private spheres.
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In honour of one of fashion’s greatest documentarians, the New-York Historical Society will present Celebrating Bill Cunningham, an exhibition of objects and rare ephemera, along with a selection of work from Façades, from June 8. Here, we speak with exhibition curator Debra Schmidt Bach, as well as John Kurdewan, Cunningham’s collaborator at The New York Times, artist Paul Caranicas, and filmmaker James Crump, to illuminate the life of the man behind the camera.
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Façades’, Editta Sherman, Subway. Photography Bill Cunningham
