Quotes from Bill Cunningham

The main thing I love about street photography is that you find the answers you don't see at the fashion shows. You find information for readers so they can visualize themselves.

I could never concentrate on Sunday church services because I'd be concentrating on women's hats.

If someone is wearing something terrific, that's what I want to photograph.

I don't pay attention to celebrities. I don't photograph them. They don't dress so... interestingly. They have stylists. I prefer real women who have their own taste.

Most of my pictures are never published. I just document things I think are important. For instance, I've documented the gay pride parade from its first days.

The problem is I'm not a good photographer. To be perfectly honest, I'm too shy. Not aggressive enough. Well, I'm not aggressive at all. I just loved to see wonderfully dressed women, and I still do. That's all there is to it.

I just loved to see wonderfully dressed women, and I still do. That's all there is to it.

Legacy? I'm a worker in the factory; all we care about is today! A legacy... what a bunch of baloney.

Fashion is a mirror, reflecting the culture.

I started photographing people on the street during World War II. I used a little box Brownie. Nothing too expensive.

When I'm photographing, I look for the personal style with which something is worn - sometimes even how an umbrella is carried or how a coat is held closed.

Money's the cheapest thing. Liberty and freedom is the most expensive.

America is a commercial marketplace, and very few people are educated to understand artists or appreciate originality.

My childhood love affair didn't die, it just vanished. Women had stopped wearing hats.

in high fashion - it's rarely an art, as most people don't have the taste, money, or time.

I go to different places all the time. And I try to be as discreet as I can. My whole thing is to be invisible. You get more natural pictures that way, too.

I took to New York life like a star shooting through the heavens.

I made hats until I went into the Army. I was drafted during the Korean War.

Money's the cheapest thing. Liberty and freedom is the most expensive.

I'm not interested in celebrities, with their free dresses. I'm interested in clothes.

My family all thought I was a little nuts.

The best fashion show is definitely on the street. Always has been, and always will be.

I go out every day. When I get depressed at the office, I go out, and as soon as I'm on the street and see people, I feel better. But I never go out with a preconceived idea. I let the street speak to me.

Everybody else does work - I have too much fun.