Watching: ‘Bill Cunningham New York’ (2010)

Bill Cunningham, pictured left, who died in 2016, was the New York Times’s legendary fashion photographer. He was such an icon that in 2009 he was named a living landmark of the city. Although he also shot runway fashion, he favoured street style. His work has been described as a form of cultural anthropology. “Fashion is the armour to survive the reality of everyday life,” he told documentary-maker Richard Press. Getting rid of it “would be like doing away with civilisation”. It’s a line of thinking that feels very in tune with right now. Cunningham documented fashion trends as worn by real people. He fell out with one magazine because they used some of his pictures in a ‘what’s in, what’s out’ list. It was all in; that was the point. He treated fashion as stories rather than trends, which made it feel less disposable; it’s what people are wearing, rather than what they are being told to wear. He viewed fashion as an expression of culture, rather than something that’s imposed upon us. Cunningham himself, pictured below with Lady Gaga, was a ball of charm, so this bird’s-eye-view documentary is a joy to watch. It’s just the escapist tonic we need right now: seeing him enthuse about taking pictures of people jumping through puddles; use gaffer tape to repair his cheap-aschips plastic poncho; and the evident affection and happiness of those he photographs. “We all got dressed for Bill. It’s one snap, two snaps, or he ignores you, which is death,” said Anna Wintour, pictured bottom with Cunningham. ‘Bill Cunningham New York’, is available on YouTube