We lost Bill Cunningham | A legend and true gentleman
I never met the man. I wasn’t even part of the fashion industry, but I get the magic. His magic.
I get it on some level because my family’s work many years ago was fashion. We were never at the epicenter of it, but did live it.
Yet really, one doesn’t even need to be at the epicenter of fashion or have to belong to that world to fully appreciate who and what Bill Cunningham is all about. One just has to go watch the film “Bill Cunningham New York” and patiently sit and listen.
If you watch, you will see that Bill is so much more than delivering amazing street fashion photography. He is so much more than the embodiment of an amazing town and the greatness that it so often has represented throughout the years.
You will see that he is more than an insight into a world we’d never see. You will see he is more than a contributor of the New York Times or high society socialite parties that he covered, or the amazing fashion shows he captured, or the industry and trends he helped define and redefine over the years.
Bill’s life, really, is a work of art in of itself. He lived a life with firm principles that albeit perhaps odd to most of us, is more pure in a way.
“Child, take nothing from them. Not even a cup of water. If you take something; you owe them something.” — Bill Cunningham
He truly lived for the purity of the most creative, the most interesting and the cutting-edge new in his work: fashion photography. And through his devotion to his life’s work, he showed us something creative, interesting, and new about life itself. And that’s why he is more than his accolades and wonderful accomplishments. He was divine in a way.
By watching the film Bill Cunningham New York my outlook on life shifted a little bit, and for the better. By observing how Bill moved through life I realized every single day is a gift. The opportunity to just do whatever it is that you love, a treasure. And if any of it works out on any level or if anyone likes your stuff, that is just an extra bonus. The real juice is in the living. The real juice is what we get to experience daily. The real riches lay in the pursuit of living that journey to the fullest.
At least that is what I observed of Bill in the film. It’s also what you hear in his voice when he does his Times fashion reviews, (which I highly recommend listening to). I’m just an outsider looking in. Yet, I’m super grateful to have learned something from him. Even if it was just through an extraordinary film about Bill and the city he loved the most.
Thank you Bill. May we cherish you now. May we cherish you forever. I will return to these lessons for the rest of my life.
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P.S. Thank you to Richard Press, Zeitgeist Films and all the people who told Bill’s story in the doc. Thank you for sharing his wisdom and wonderful story with the world.
