‘We all get dressed for Bill’: the street photographer who captured New York’s sartorial spirit

Street fashion photographer Bill Cunningham shooting on a New York City street, in a scene from the 2010 documentary Bill Cunningham New York. Photograph: First Thought Films

In 2016, legendary New York street photographer Bill Cunningham died, aged 87. The fashion industry, and everyone who was lucky enough to be photographed by him, collectively remembered how he captured the best fashion show there ever was: the one on the street.

Cunningham began taking photos in the 1960s after shutting up shop as a milliner and a brief stint in the army. Rising to prominence in the 80s with his On the Street column for the New York Times, it is clear just how expertly Cunningham sees pavement and pedestrian crossings as a catwalk of their own.