Review of Bill Cunningham New York (2011) by Eyal D — 11 May 2011

An endearing and very entertaining expose on the illustrious career of NYTimes resident fashion and social scene photogrpher Bill Cunningham, exploring the professional realm in which he lives and breathes and the people whom he's preoccupied snapping shots of on an obsessive basis.

Equally the film tries to assemble an array of unique deinzens who surround Cunningham through his daily grind, in an attempt to uncover some of his mystique. And yet very little is revealed about the personal life of this handsome and guarded 83 year-old, who was absolutely striking back in the days.

He may have been raised with privilege but Cunningham gave it all up to write about and, later, to be part of the fashion scene. He even designed hats! He eventually chose photogrpahy as his medium, a passion which he's turned into a succesful career for decades.

For a man who's written for the Chicago Tribune, contributed to WOMEN'S WEAR DAILY, and was star photogrpaher for the original DETAILS magazine, not to mention received an award from the French Ministry of Culture among many other accomplishments, the very modest eccentric shies away from questions of sexuality or even his private life but speaks with reverence of his work and career and the mostly random people that have inspired him to take their shots with style.

I guess Bill Cunningham is in essence a product of his time and an admirable one at that.