Looking Back At THE TIMES OF BILL CUNNINGHAM
WDCB’s Gary Zidek talks to Mark Bozek about his new documentary, THE TIMES OF BILL CUNNINGHAM.
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“I really didn’t want to do a fashion movie. I really wanted to focus more on Bill Cunningham, the person. This really incredibly New York-legend, who had a very eccentric, contrarian personality.” - Mark Bozek talking about his approach to putting together THE TIMES OF BILL CUNNINGHAM.
Mark Bozek, director of THE TIMES OF BILL CUNNINGHAM
Long before Instagram was a thing, hundreds of thousands of people would pick-up a copy of the New York Times to see what Bill Cunningham photographed. The beloved photographer became a major influence on fashion and culture simply by documenting what he thought was stylish and interesting. Cunningham’s columns ON THE STREET and EVENING HOURS ran in the New York Times from 1989 to shortly before his death in 2016. The one-time hat designer passed away at the age of 87.
Cunningham’s story is intriguing when you consider the dichotomies of his professional and private lives. Despite rubbing elbows with some of the world’s most glamorous people, Cunningham maintained a truly modest life-style.
A new documentary offers some new insights into the notoriously private photographer. The film is built around a rare taped, but unseen interview Cunningham did in 1994. Mark Bozek conducted that one-on-one interview and is the director of the new documentary, THE TIMES OF BILL CUNNINGHAM.
Liza Minnelli & Andy Warhol, Versailles, 1973. Photo credit: Bill Cunningham.
Bozek sat down with Cunningham for what was supposed to be a 10 minute interview that would be used to create a one minute introduction video at an awards ceremony. But the conversation ended up going four hours, covering topics the Boston native had never talked about publicly before. Bozek put the interview tape away and never spoke with Cunningham again. He pulled out the old tapes after Cunningham passed away in 2016, and the idea to create a new documentary, built around this rare one-on-one interview was born.
Bill Cunningham with trademark blue jacket on a bike in Manhattan
