Bill Cunningham New York

Forget The Satorialist, Face Hunter. Tommy Ton and Garance Dore - 80 year old Bill Cunningham aka The Bill is the original street style photographer. Since he has been shooting fashionistas from the late 70s he has earned the respect of the heavy hitters in New York. Bill started his career as a writer on The Chicago Tribune and began taking pictures of well dressed people on the streets of New York. He got his big break when he took a chance picture of Greta Garbo which was published in The Times in 1978 and went on to become a regular series. This was a huge first because usually images of famous people needed permission before they could be run. Since then Bill  has gone on to take countless photographs of celebrities, socialites and fashion personalties in Manhattan, in a career that has amassed around 40 to 50 years. He has entertained the public with his columns in The Times Style section, One the Street and Evening Hours. Some say that he has the history of the last 50 years of New York right in the palm of his hands. More remarkable is that the fact that a lot of his images have never been published.

A few months ago I came across a few blog posts about Bill Cunningham which got my attention and it was only after a while that I realised that a film had been made about him. Bill Cunningham, New York documents the life of the much celebrated photographer and the impact he has made on pop culture. It shows an artist at work and how he is much more than a creator of images but really an anthropological historian. After all this is a man who is revered by the likes of Anna Wintour who made the inoccuous comment, "We all get dressed up for Bill." We get to see the real man behind the lens as well as his humble lifestyle which consists of a simple apartment and him dashing around Manhattan on his precious bike. The documentary is directed by Richard Press who has written and directed many award winning short films. He decided to make the film due to the fascination he had about Bill as a person and how he chose to live his life. The film was released in the US on 16 March and has picked up many awards but there is no news about a UK release date.

For more information about the film, check out the website.

The Satorialist Book Signing in Liberty

Yesterday I rocked up to the book signing of The Satorialist at Liberty. I thought to myself, get there in good time so you can get a decent space as well as your book signed. Good idea right? Wrong because the whole world and his cat had the same idea and turned up in good time too. The queue was literally going round the block as hundreds of Scott Schuman fans waited patiently for him to sign their copies of his iconic book. Luckily for me I managed to get into the press event and got my book signed in no time as well as a complimentary glass of champagne too. I bumped into the lovely Leigh from Style Canteen who took this wonderful picture. Oh yes and Garance Dore was there to lend Scott some support. She looked as gorgeous as her blog. The event was held in the menswear section where a pop up store which Scott created was held and the space also held images that he has taken.

The Satorialist is available to buy from amazon here.