The Bill Cunningham's column "On the street" in New York Times has influenced many fashionistas all over world, including me. When I play "On the street" audio slideshows on the New York Times website with Bill's narration, I am transported to the streets of New York. As a photographer, he has dedicated his life to capture the real world of fashion, which exists on the street. His incomparable instinct to capture the trends that are coming from real people who wear the real clothes on the street. He has always gives the sense of reality to the fashion. "We all get dressed for Bill," the Queen of Fashion, Anna Wintor remarks how important role he has played in the fashion. Also she mentions her feeling of personal failure when he did not raise his camera towards her. He is the criterion of beauty. Now, he finally gives his voice and shows his appearance in the documentary film by Richard Press, Bill Cunningham New York.
Bill Cunningham is an outsider who hates to be in the spotlights, but he is the spotlight, which brightens the people. In contrast to the extravagant world of fashion, he stays his life as simple as possible. "I don't have time,” he repeats many times in the film as if he is not interested in anything other than photographing the beautiful people on the street. He lives in a tiny studio with 5-story cabinets all around the room. He eats $3.50 lunch, which includes a cup of coffee. He always wears $15 blue shirts. "It is too rich for me", he said when he found that Michael Kors was wearing Cashier coat.
I believe that being modest is the only way to evoke the keen artistic sense. In other words, always being satisfied loses the sharpness of the sense. Some designers have fallen into the trap richness and only seen the extravagantly decorated world of fashion. Unfortunately, they ended up loosing their sharp instinct to capture what people needs at the "present" time and fail their businesses like Yohji Yamamoto and Christian Lacroix. If those designers could ever remember the modesty that they used to have and the Bill's words, "Money is cheap, Freedom is expensive", maybe they would still design as a trendsetter.
It is very difficult to keep from trap of richness and to be modest, especially in New York but not for Bill. This is the significant reason of his achievement as one of the most important person in the fashion world. For those who have already watched the film, it is clear that he has something, which obsessively drives him to keep working although he will never disclose what it is. However, I honestly don't care at all because I will keep turning the page of New York Times every week and transport.
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