Bill Cunningham, Legendary Fashion Photographer, Dies at 87

Obits

New York Times photographer captured street-style fashion for four decades

Bill Cunningham
NEW YORK, NY – FEBRUARY 18: Photographer Bill Cunningham attends the Marc Jacobs Fall 2016 fashion show during New York Fashion Week at Park Avenue Armory on February 18, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Marc Jacobs)

Bill Cunningham, the legendary street-style photographer for the New York Times, died on Saturday at the age of 87.

According to the Times, Cunningham was hospitalized following a stroke, and died in New York City after nearly 40 years of photographing New York style and building a reputation as one of the most iconic fashion photojournalists in the world.

The 2010 documentary “Bill Cunningham New York” by filmmaker Richard Press, featured some of the most influential people in culture and fashion singing the praises of Cunningham’s work. “We all get dressed for Bill,” Vogue editor Anna Wintour famously said of the photographer.

Cunningham has been a regular contributor to the Times since the late 1970s, but didn’t take a staff position at the paper until 1994. He was known for riding around the city on a bicycle, photographing the clothes of people from all walks of life.

“It’s important to be almost invisible, to catch people when they’re oblivious to the camera — to get the intensity of their speech, the gestures of their hands. I’m interested in capturing a moment with animation and spirit,” Cunningham once told the Times of his craft.

The world of fashion took to Twitter to mourn his death.

Reid Nakamura

TV reporter • reid.nakamura@thewrap.com • Twitter: @reidnakamura

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