Bill Cunningham

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

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

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

“Fashion is a mirror, reflecting the culture.”

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

“I'm a zero.”

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

“Women have always been a good influence on me.”

“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.”

“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.”

“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.”

“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.”

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

“My family all thought I was a little nuts.”

“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.”

“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.”

“There's nothing free. Stay independent and don't fall.”

“I came to New York in 1948 at 19, after one term at Harvard. Well, Harvard wasn't for me at all.”

“Everybody else does work - I have too much fun.”