patrickinglis.com

I’ve been meaning to watch Bill Cunningham New York for ages, but finally decided today would be the day—spurred by a tweet from development specialist Chris Blattman. There’s a lot to take from the film, and so much here to comment on, especially from a sociological perspective: style, stratification, hierarchy, presentation of self, among many, many other things. For me, though, the themes of work and craft are what stand out. As the film documents, Cunningham still lives in a tiny studio apartment at Carnegie Hall. He doesn’t have many material possessions. He’s never owned a television set. But he’s the luckiest man in the world, it seems, with the freedom to photograph who he wants, when he wants, as he sees fit, without much oversight from the New York Times. And what amazing work he churns out. A great film. Highly recommended.