Bill Cunningham is one of the long-revered icons of The New York Times: If you are incredibly lucky, you may catch a glimpse of his blue-jacketed figure walking through the doors of the Times building on Eighth Avenue, camera bag slung around his shoulder, his jaunty step belying his 84 years.
Cunningham has taken fashion photos for over four decades and has two columns in the NYT's Style section. Everyone is in his thrall, but as Richard Press' labor-of-love documentary shows, no one really knows who he is.
"Bill Cunningham New York" was released in the U.S. in 2010 and took 10 years to complete — eight of which Press spent trying to get Cunningham to say yes. "Stop that now" or "You can turn off the camera now" are his more frequent admonishments, and to Press' credit, his lens almost always backs off. One thing we discover: Cunningham hates being conspicuous. Having spent his entire career photographing people decked out in finery, the man himself would do anything to avoid showing off.