The legendary photographer Bill Cunningham died on Saturday after being hospitalised for a stroke. I don’t know much about fashion, or fashion photography for that matter, but you don’t have to be Anna Wintour to know that the man in the blue jacket was a 100% maverick.
The documentary above, which came out in 2010, shows this completely. He dashes straight into traffic to get the perfect photo of a pair of shoes, he crashes into the back of trucks whilst zipping across New York on his bicycle and he repeatedly refuses payment for fear of losing his independence.
Although I’m not sure I could live like he did, but it’s definitely impressive seeing how people can put so much of their life into one thing—in Bill's case, capturing real people on the street.
And perhaps most importantly, he seemed like a bloody nice bloke.
R.I.P. Bill Cunningham.
P.S. The original film has been taken off Youtube, but the full thing is on Netflix (or may be purchased from all good video shops) if you're keen.