Bill Cunningham: Façades
March 14, 2014 - June 15, 2014
This latest press release from the New York Historical Society profiles a show I'd love to see.
"In 1968, photographer Bill Cunningham embarked on an eight-year project to document the architectural riches and fashion history of New York City. Scouring the city’s thrift stores, auction houses, and street fairs for vintage clothing, and scouting sites on his bicycle, Cunningham generated a photographic essay entitled Façades, which paired models—in particular his muse, fellow photographer Editta Sherman—in period costumes with historic settings. Although by turns whimsical and bold, Cunningham’s project also was part of the larger cultural zeitgeist in New York City, during an era in which issues surrounding both the preservation and the problems of the urban landscape loomed large. The photographer donated 88 silver gelatin prints from the series to the New-York Historical Society in 1976, and now, almost four decades later, Cunningham’s work will be reconsidered in a show that will highlight the historical perspective the photographs suggest—not just of the distant past, but of the particular time in which they were created."
Cunningham lived in the age before vintage fashion became a fashion trend. He found clothing from the eighteenth century to 1968. These photographs give you an idea of what he was trying capture.
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| Bill Cunningham, St. Paul’s Chapel, New York City, ca. 1968-1976. Gelatin silver photograph. New-York Historical Society, Gift of Bill Cunningham |
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| Bill Cunningham, Grand Central Terminal, New York City, ca. 1968-1976. Gelatin silver photograph. New-York Historical Society, Gift of Bill Cunningham |
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