Legendary New York photographer Bill Cunningham dies at 87

Photographer Bill Cunningham captured a "vivid, vivacious New York" in his work, says the city's mayor, Bill de Blasio.

New York Times photographer Bill Cunningham works on the runway at the Michael Kors Spring 2016 collection, during Fashion Week in New York. Source: AAP

Bill Cunningham, a longtime fashion photographer for The New York Times known for taking pictures of everyday people on the streets of New York, has died. He was 87.

Cunningham died on Saturday in New York City, according to Eileen Murphy, a spokeswoman for the newspaper. He had been hospitalised recently after suffering a stroke.

"To see a Bill Cunningham street spread was to see all of New York," New York Times executive editor Dean Baquet said in a tweet posted to the newspaper's Twitter account on Saturday afternoon.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said Cunningham would be remembered for his trademark blue jacket and travelling by bicycle with a small camera bag strapped to his waist, "but most of all we will remember the vivid, vivacious New York he captured in his photos."

Bill Cunningham attends the Tommy Hilfiger Fall 2012 show during Fashion Week in New York, Sunday, Feb. 12, 2012. Source: AAP

Cunningham began publishing a regular series of photographs in the Times in 1978 after a chance photograph of Greta Garbo got the attention of the storied paper.

After dropping out of Harvard University in 1948, the Boston-born Cunningham moved to New York where he worked as a hat maker and in advertising before being drafted into the US Army.

After a stint in the army, Cunningham returned to New York where he wrote fashion pieces for the Chicago Tribune. He soon segued into photography and started taking photographs of people on the streets before joining the Times.

In a 2002 interview with the paper, Cunningham said he always tried to be as discreet as possible because "you get more natural pictures that way."

"I suppose, in a funny way, I'm a record keeper. More than a collector," he said. "I'm very aware of things not of value but of historical knowledge."

He was awarded the Officier de l'ordre des arts et des Lettres by the French Ministry of Culture in 2008 and received the Carnegie Hall Medal of Excellence in 2012.

Following news of Mr Cunningham's death, celebrities and fans paid tribute to him on Twitter: