True New Yorkers

New York may be full of weathy, educated, talented people. But what I find most fascinating are those who seem more ordinary on the surface, and yet they display an extraordinary passion that makes the city the vibrant place it is. And they aren't all under the age of 30 either!

Bill Cunningham New York is a documentary about Bill Cunningham, a photographer who is probably best known as the "columnist" of the New York Times feature On the Street. Cunningham is fascinated by fashion and those who take obvious pleasure in it. Now over 80, Cunningham continues to ride a bicycle through New York, snapping photos of styles that catch his eye, and putting together his visual editorials on the fashion trends of the day. He lives an acetic life in a tiny apartment, is rarely without a smile on his face, and is utterly dedicated to chronicling fashion and style. Known to everyone in the fashion industry in New York and Paris, Cunningham is completely self-effacing and rather enigmatic.

It reminded me of a PBS documentary, Herb & Dorothy, about Herbert and Dorothy Vogel. The couple are considered two of the most important U.S. contemporary art collectors, despite the fact that he worked as a postal clerk his entire professional life and she was a librarian for the Brooklyn Public Library. Ironically, Herb Vogel died only two days ago at the age of 89. As the obit in the Times points out, they "crammed 5,000 pieces [of art] in a rent-controlled one-bedroom apartment, then [donated] the whole kit and caboodle to the National Gallery of Art in Washington and galleries in all 50 states."


Something tells me that Bill Cunningham and the Vogels knew and appreciated one another.