netwebdotin

Bill Cunningham is a fashion photographer, but unlike most in his profession, he rarely spends a day in a photo studio. Cunningham's work has been a long-time fixture in the New York Times; in his "Evening Hours" column, he presents pictures he's snapped of the wealthy and influential and what they're wearing to social events

Anyone who has so much as glanced at the Style section of the Times will recognize Cunningham's work: an obsessive, meticulous, witty and eclectic array of images of New Yorkers dressed to kill. Cunningham is famous for spotting trends before anyone else, for giving young and unknown fashionistas as much play as society's grande dames, and for rejecting every hostess's effort to get him to stop for just one moment to sip champagne or shoot the breeze. Living in monk-like asceticism above Carnegi

Anyone who has so much as glanced at the Style section of the Times will recognize Cunningham's work: an obsessive, meticulous, witty and eclectic array of images of New Yorkers dressed to kill. Cunningham is famous for spotting trends before anyone else, for giving young and unknown fashionistas as much play as society's grande dames, and for rejecting every hostess's effort to get him to stop for just one moment to sip champagne or shoot the breeze. Living in monk-like asceticism above Carnegi

Anyone who has so much as glanced at the Style section of the Times will recognize Cunningham's work: an obsessive, meticulous, witty and eclectic array of images of New Yorkers dressed to kill. Cunningham is famous for spotting trends before anyone else, for giving young and unknown fashionistas as much play as society's grande dames, and for rejecting every hostess's effort to get him to stop for just one moment to sip champagne or shoot the breeze. Living in monk-like asceticism above Carnegi

The best fashion show is always on the street" – Bill Cunningham, The New York Times's peripatetic, octogenarian, bicycle-riding fashion photographer. Filmmaker Richard Press says it took 10 years to make this portrait of Cunningham, the first eight spent convincing his subject to acquiesce.

The best fashion show is always on the street" – Bill Cunningham, The New York Times's peripatetic, octogenarian, bicycle-riding fashion photographer. Filmmaker Richard Press says it took 10 years to make this portrait of Cunningham, the first eight spent convincing his subject to acquiesce.

The best fashion show is always on the street" – Bill Cunningham, The New York Times's peripatetic, octogenarian, bicycle-riding fashion photographer. Filmmaker Richard Press says it took 10 years to make this portrait of Cunningham, the first eight spent convincing his subject to acquiesce.

The best fashion show is always on the street" – Bill Cunningham, The New York Times's peripatetic, octogenarian, bicycle-riding fashion photographer. Filmmaker Richard Press says it took 10 years to make this portrait of Cunningham, the first eight spent convincing his subject to acquiesce.

I sat with my family, fixated on the screen for seven minutes; no-one spoke, the hairs on the back of my neck were standing up and as soon as it had finished, everyone sprang to their feet and cheered. We had just watched the first performance of Riverdance, which would eclipse every other interval show performed on Eurovision and would go down as the second most successful Eurovision act behind ABBA.

I sat with my family, fixated on the screen for seven minutes; no-one spoke, the hairs on the back of my neck were standing up and as soon as it had finished, everyone sprang to their feet and cheered. We had just watched the first performance of Riverdance, which would eclipse every other interval show performed on Eurovision and would go down as the second most successful Eurovision act behind ABBA.