Documentary Street Photography: Bill Cunningham New York

[easyrider]

I have just come from seeing "Bill Cunningham New York," the theatrical release documentary on the New York Times street fashion photographer that opened here in Toronto today.

I highly recommend it to all RFF members interested in "street photography."

Cunningham's photography has been featured for decades in the Sunday N.Y. Times "Style" section. He always picks a theme about what real people are wearing and runs with it. He also covers parties and the Paris fashion showings.

He is over 80 years old, rides around the city on a bicycle and wears a Paris street cleaner's jacket.

He shoots film that he has developed at a corner store and the newspaper layout people work from the scans.

The film does not talk about the technical stuff. He uses a Nikon that looks to me like an F but there are no close-ups of it so I am not sure. He uses a hand held flash connected by a cord and you never see him change lenses or fiddle with the camera. I think he uses the 50mm all the time.

He is well-known among the fashion personalities but the people whom he photographs on the street do not seem to object to having their pix taken.

Anyway, a charming and interesting film.

Here is a trailer:

http://www.zeitgeistfilms.com/billcunninghamnewyork/

 

[skipjack]

Bill Cunningham

Bill Cunningham

I met Bill on 7th Ave. and 58th Street in New York about a week ago coming out of a convenience store at about 10:00 PM at night. Had a very interesting conversation with him, he uses one lens - a 50mm and a Nikon slr. He is no spring chicken, uses a huge lock and chain - NYC style- and off he went on his bike with no lights. His parting remark to me was that he "keeps it simple" and "New York is made for photography". I'll try to see the film.

 

[marcoinhawaii]

film

film

a rather interesting piece on a very eccentric photographer. shows what you can achieve if you dedicate EVERYTHING to your craft. I grew weary as the film crept on but rather intrigued with Mr. Cunningham's timing and obsession with his art. Only in the New York of the 1970s can you achieve this type of success and continue till now. Few if any will take his place.

Living rent controlled in a super prime piece of property, knowing individuals we could only hope to encounter for seconds in passing...very few could do this. And his success didn't start recently. He was, as I would put it, grandfathered into a world that most would never be able to break into now. Shooting film as a modern professional...what client would pay for that? Given absolute freedom to shoot whatever whenever however. Impossible. Yes there are a few who still can but they are the exceptionals. And even then, I doubt that those .0001% can maintain the career that someone like Mr. Cunningham has carved out.

What I saw was a glimpse of what photography once was and will never be again.

Yet the filming of the doc...yikes...get some better equipment and learn how to use it. Dark, fuzzy, depressing...seemed like I was watching amateur hour on public tele or youtube. Might it have been the theater I saw it in?

 

[jsrockit]

I thought the movie was thoroughly interesting and shot fine. It's not a huge budget film, what did you expect marco?

 

[dave lackey]

Starts in Atlanta on May 13! When I first posted a thread about Bill, I had no idea he even existed. Now, I am in awe of such a gentleman of photography!🙂

 

[cee]

Incredible documentary. Well worth seeing- I found Bill very inspiring.

We should all be so lucky in our 80's!

 

[marcoinhawaii]

I thought the movie was thoroughly interesting and shot fine. It's not a huge budget film, what did you expect marco?

the actual production seemed so poorly taken. All the images seemed dark, underexposed, and taken with low end equipment. However, I gotta feeling the quality of the picture was due to our art house theater.

 

[RayPA]

I saw this tonight. A very enjoyable 124 minutes. I also recommend this highly. The shots of the old guy shooting with an off-camera flash are great. (now I know where Gilden got his technique!) 😀 And film! Fuji color film! Very cool.


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[easyrider]

The production values are just fine!

The production values are just fine!

Nothing wrong with the production values at all. The images did not look dark to me. Frankly, I don't know why anyone would knock this on technical grounds.

Interesting story well done. Highly recommended.

 

[neelin]

Nothing wrong with the production values at all. The images did not look dark to me. Frankly, I don't know why anyone would knock this on technical grounds.

Interesting story well done. Highly recommended.

ditto ..

 

[Brian Legge]

Definitely recommended. Really inspiring all around, as both a photographer and as a human in general. 🙂

 

[kdemas]

Thanks for posting this, I totally forgot about it.

 

[kdemas]

Seeing it in about half an hour, looking forward to it! SF Opera Plaza theater.

 

[jordanstarr]

I wouldn't recommend the film to a photographer as a film about a photographer. It had very little about film photography, but more about him and his obsession with fashion. I really really really like Bill as a person and that's what kept me smiling the entire time I watched the film. He is definitely a character worth filming. But if you watch it thinking you're going to get your photographic mojo tickled, don't bother. It has nothing to do with photography and everything to do with fashion and Bill as a person.

 

[Pablito]

I wouldn't recommend the film to a photographer as a film about a photographer. It had very little about film photography, but more about him and his obsession with fashion. I really really really like Bill as a person and that's what kept me smiling the entire time I watched the film. He is definitely a character worth filming. But if you watch it thinking you're going to get your photographic mojo tickled, don't bother. It has nothing to do with photography and everything to do with fashion and Bill as a person.

Not sure what the point it. Photography is not about cameras like traveling is not about airplanes... I thought the film had EVERYTHING to do about photography.

 

[RayPA]

I wouldn't recommend the film to a photographer as a film about a photographer. It had very little about film photography, but more about him and his obsession with fashion. I really really really like Bill as a person and that's what kept me smiling the entire time I watched the film. He is definitely a character worth filming. But if you watch it thinking you're going to get your photographic mojo tickled, don't bother. It has nothing to do with photography and everything to do with fashion and Bill as a person.

You are certainly entitled to your opinion, but to me your opinion is a swing-and-miss assessment of a very relevant film for photographers. 🙂



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[Vics]

"Yet the filming of the doc...yikes...get some better equipment and learn how to use it. Dark, fuzzy, depressing...seemed like I was watching amateur hour on public tele or youtube. Might it have been the theater I saw it in?"

I think it must have been the theater. We both thought is was really well done and looked great at our neighborhood theater.
I thought he was using an FE, maybe. Anyone who thinks this couldn't be done today needs to check out http://thesartorialist.blogspot.com/

 

[kdemas]

I really enjoyed the film, what an interesting character! It's wonderful to see someone so full of life and actively a part of society at his age. Reminds me of my Mom, who is 83 and still teaching.

I highly recommend it if you have a chance to hit the theater.

Vics- I had focused on his camera as well given the prior discussion about what he used. Given the sculpting of the prism I'd say definitely an FE or FM.

 

[jamesj]

just saw the film with my wife here in AZ and i totally loved it.

 

[amateriat]

I've been so busy the last few months, it figures this film would slip right under my radar...but, thankfully, not too late to catch it at a local theater, which I will absolutely do this weekend. Cunningham is a truly cool guy, with a sense of purpose I only manage occasionally at best (but he's faster on the draw than me, for certain). Really looking forward to it.


- Barrett