LEGENDARY FASHION PHOTOGRAPHER BILL CUNNINGHAM DIES AT 87

Fashion photographer Bill Cunningham, a longtime employee of The New York Times and tireless chronicler of New York City’s street scene, died on Saturday, June 25 at age 87. He had suffered a stroke earlier this month.

Cunningham, who rode his bicycle to even the fanciest events and almost always wore a simple blue jacket and khaki pants while on assignment, spent decades shooting everything from the Metropolitan Museum annual gala to New York Fashion Week to the Easter Parade. He began his career at WWD, later freelanced for such newspapers as The Daily News and The Chicago Tribune, and became a regular contributor to the Times in the 1970s, where he worked for the next five decades. He was also one of the founders of the magazine Details in 1982.

“The Times’ ‘Sunday Styles’ section will not be the same without Bill’s street shots,” commented Karen Alberg Grossman, editor in chief of MR.

Reactions to his death from the fashion and celebrity worlds were plentiful on social media, from Facebook to Instagram to Twitter, over the past two days.

“It’s as true today as it ever was, he who seeks beauty, will find it.” RIP #BillCunningham, a true New York icon who found lasting beauty in the city’s daily parade of fashion and style,” designer Ralph Lauren posted on Instagram.

“A true and pure talent,” wrote CFDA CEO Steven Kolb on Instagram. “I was lucky to sit next to him but mostly behind him at shows over the years. Once at a show in Paris the photographers went crazy for an ‘it’ celebrity. He turned to me with his camera firm in his lap and said ‘I’m interested in the clothes not celebrities.’ All the photographers went crazy shooting her but not Bill.”

“RIP Bill Cunningham. He had the eye & style. The wonderful combo of sight & shutter. An original. Was photographed by him once. #legend,” tweeted actress Jamie Lee Curtis.

Meanwhile, actress Molly Rignwald also tweeted: “At Cindy Sherman’s MOMA opening, Bill Cunningham swooped in snapped my gloves saying ‘Oh aren’t these marvelous!’ Never felt so well dressed.”

“What a loss. An icon and a gentleman. The streets of NYC will never be the same. RIP. #BillCunningham,” added actress Debra Messing.

“RIP, Bill Cunningham. What an awful day,” wrote noted journalist Michael Musto. “He shot people with great looks for the Times, and he always did so with a smile because he felt that made the subjects feel good and respond in kind.”

Cunningham received numerous honors throughout his career, including being named a New York City Living Landmark and receiving the Legion of Honor from the French Government In 2010, he was the subject of a popular documentary, Bill Cunningham New York, which received numerous awards nominations.

His survivors include many nieces and nephews.