He started as a milliner. When that trade collapsed in the 1960s, he took to roaming the streets with a camera, taking pictures of how people actually dressed. His pictures ran in Women's Wear Daily until apparently he grew to dislike the sarcastic captions the editors tagged them with, so for a half century he did the same for the New York Times, with his own kindly comments.
Cunningham was, in short, one of those ubiquitous characters of the city. He knew everyone from Brooke Astor on down, but no one really knew him. This documentary on him notes that he came from Boston, and people speculate he came from money, but no one seems to be sure. There's some discussion on his ability to pick out current trends in how people dressed, and his essential kindness. But despite the speculation, he remains an observer more than the observed in this documentary.
I think that every city has these people, and larger cities tend to fetishize them a bit, from Beau Brummel in Regency London to the Emperor Norton in post-Civil-War San Francisco. This show never drags, but in the end, it leads nowhere in particular. Which is pretty much the same of the city.
Cunningham was, in short, one of those ubiquitous characters of the city. He knew everyone from Brooke Astor on down, but no one really knew him. This documentary on him notes that he came from Boston, and people speculate he came from money, but no one seems to be sure. There's some discussion on his ability to pick out current trends in how people dressed, and his essential kindness. But despite the speculation, he remains an observer more than the observed in this documentary.
I think that every city has these people, and larger cities tend to fetishize them a bit, from Beau Brummel in Regency London to the Emperor Norton in post-Civil-War San Francisco. This show never drags, but in the end, it leads nowhere in particular. Which is pretty much the same of the city.