The best fashion show is definitely on the street. Always has been, and always will be.
Bill Cunningham
Fashion is a mirror, reflecting the culture.
Money's the cheapest thing. Liberty and freedom is the most expensive.
I don't pay attention to celebrities. I don't photograph them. They don't dress so... interestingly. They have stylists. I prefer real women who have their own taste.
I'm really not good with money, and I don't pay attention.
Everybody else does work - I have too much fun.
I made hats until I went into the Army. I was drafted during the Korean War.
I go out every day. When I get depressed at the office, I go out, and as soon as I'm on the street and see people, I feel better. But I never go out with a preconceived idea. I let the street speak to me.
I'm not interested in celebrity.
Women have always been a good influence on me.
I just loved to see wonderfully dressed women, and I still do. That's all there is to it.
Legacy? I'm a worker in the factory; all we care about is today! A legacy... what a bunch of baloney.
I came to New York in 1948 at 19, after one term at Harvard. Well, Harvard wasn't for me at all.
I'm a zero.
The main thing I love about street photography is that you find the answers you don't see at the fashion shows. You find information for readers so they can visualize themselves.
I'm not interested in celebrities, with their free dresses. I'm interested in clothes.
I started photographing people on the street during World War II. I used a little box Brownie. Nothing too expensive.
I let the streets talk to me. The streets speak to you - how you find out what's new, what people are wearing, what people aren't wearing.
If someone is wearing something terrific, that's what I want to photograph.
I go to different places all the time. And I try to be as discreet as I can. My whole thing is to be invisible. You get more natural pictures that way, too.
I took to New York life like a star shooting through the heavens.
My family all thought I was a little nuts.
When I'm photographing, I look for the personal style with which something is worn - sometimes even how an umbrella is carried or how a coat is held closed.
Most of my pictures are never published. I just document things I think are important. For instance, I've documented the gay pride parade from its first days.
The problem is I'm not a good photographer. To be perfectly honest, I'm too shy. Not aggressive enough. Well, I'm not aggressive at all. I just loved to see wonderfully dressed women, and I still do. That's all there is to it.
I could never concentrate on Sunday church services because I'd be concentrating on women's hats.
There's nothing free. Stay independent and don't fall.
I had always been interested in fashion.
