Editta Sherman on a subway train to the Brooklyn Botanical Garden 1972
Parasols and primly preened ladies fill frames of monochrome as "street style" portraiture takes a theatrical twist. Bill Cunningham: Facades at the New York Historical Society showcases an 8-year project pairing fashion, photography and antique architecture. When a grade school girlfriend suggested we venture uptown this past weekend, I begrudgingly obliged (mostly because brunch was on the agenda!). I entered the exhibit expecting an assemblage of ladies flaunting fashions of the day, under the assumption that 'facades' referenced style as a form of self-expression. Instead, I became acquainted with one man's subtle contribution to his "cause" for preservation. It was interesting to see the premeditated posturing of Cunningham's deliberate documentary.
