Bill Cunningham, one of the most recognizable figures at The New York Times and in all of New York, died Saturday. He was 87.
Cunningham was a street life photographer; a cultural anthropologist; a fixture at fashion events; and a celebrity in spite of his desire to keep the camera focused on others, not himself.
His death, several days after suffering a stroke, was announced by The Times, where he worked for almost four decades.
The newspaper’s publisher Arthur Sulzberger said in a statement, “We have lost a legend, and I am personally heartbroken to have lost a friend.”
The NY Times also tweeted Cunningham’s death as breaking news.
Many readers of the Times loyally flipped open the Styles section every Sunday to see what Cunningham was seeing all around the city.
The obituary published by the Times on Saturday afternoon observed that Cunningham “used the changing dress habits of the people he photographed to chart the broader shift away from formality and toward something more diffuse and individualistic.”
Thousands of blogs and Instagram accounts have blossomed in recent years, all of them seeking to document street style in various ways, and many of them owe a debt to Cunningham.
Political reporter Trip Gabriel, formerly the Styles section editor, tweeted that Cunningham was the “hardest working journalist I ever knew.”
Cunningham’s signatures included a bicycle, a blue jacket, and a camera around his neck. Manhattanites prized their occasional sightings of Cunningham — and usually said he was unfailingly polite and humble.
He was the reluctant star of a 2010 documentary about his work, “Bill Cunningham New York.”
It showed him pedaling from place to place and snapping away, a man and an occupation that seemed to be a perfect match.
Alessandra Codinha, the fashion news editor for Vogue.com, tweeted after his death was announced, “RIP Bill Cunningham, a true gentleman and irreplaceable talent. Who will we dress for, now?”