Finding Vivian Maier

[Earth_First]

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In 2007, photographer John Maloof went to an auction house across the street from his Chicago home and bought a box of undeveloped film that had been abandoned in a storage locker. When he developed the negatives, he discovered that they contained a photographic gold mine left by a mysterious woman named Vivian Maier.

Vivian Maier - completely unknown at the time - had left a body of work comprising of more than 2,000 rolls of film, 3,000 printed photographs and 150,000 negatives, representing the photos she took from the 40s through the 70s. She took candid pictures of people, street life, and buildings in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, the American Southwest, and places as fara way as Manila, Bangkok, Beijing, Egypt and Italy.

But who was Vivian Maier? Maloof spent years reconstructing her work and life - and when he finally found her identity, Vivian died only days before he could reach her.

But in death, the very private Vivian Maier (friends have likened her to Mary Poppins - Maier was a nanny) has found fame. Thanks to Maloof, her work has found new fans from published books and exhibitions across the United States - and finally, a documentary is in the works.

[Stevenmarc]

1. Her work

Is really quite extraordinary. We had two shows of her work last year in NYC and the one thing that struck me was that for a person that was so private she certainly liked a reflective surface, there were quite a few self portraits.

I also found the quality of her work right up there with Lisette Model and Helen Levitt and hopefully her work will take the place it deserves in the history of photography.

[justiceischeap]

2. I just watched the BBC documentary that aired earlier this week

about her. One thing they talked about, and I hope it's talked about in Maloof's doc, is her incredible success rate. She shot with a Rollieflex, which only allowed her 12 shots at a time. I think her "hit" rate is like 10 out of 12--so with 150K+ negatives out there, that's how many successful shots in her lifetime?

The one thing that bothers me about all this notoriety though, is that from what I've read about her, she'd hate that people are seeing her photos. She very rarely showed her prints (when she had them made) to anyone.

[Stevenmarc]

3. The thing that bothers me

Is Maloof, I find him a bit off putting and I wish the work was in the hands of an experienced curator in a reputable institution like the Getty, MOMA or ICP

[justiceischeap]

4. Joel Meyerwitz touched on that a bit

without naming names, he basically said he didn't know how he felt about these other people presenting her work because they will never know how she intended it to be seen (which, IMO, she didn't).

[Stevenmarc]

5. Well the one truth

Is that we will never really know her intentions but even though she produced few prints in her lifetime she did apparently value her work or she wouldn't have made the effort of storing it.

My best guess is that she saw no commercial value in her work and had no interest in a full time photographic career, which at the time would have been limited for her. Nevertheless, she had an extraordinary eye that was in the same league with her contemporaries but the value for her was what she captured in the moment, or she would have made accommodations for the future of the collection.

My feeling is that photography gave her a way to engage with the public in a way she couldn't without the camera and that the future of those images after her death never came into her mind.

[justiceischeap]

6. I have another theory why she kept the images

but I'm not going to mention it 'cause I don't want to give anything away. It was mentioned in the BBC doc I watched.

As far as her eye and talent, you're right, she had a talent that changes the game, IMO, or at least rewrites the history of photography a bit.

[ljm2002]

12. Maloof paid for those photos...

...and unlike what many people might have done, he recognized the value of what he had and chose to make it available to the rest of us. For which I thank him.

I haven't seen the documentary so don't know who is restoring those photos. If Maloof is doing it, I say more power to him -- because whoever is doing it, it looks to me like they're doing a fine job.

[Stevenmarc]

7. Finally got to see it

It reinforces some of my feelings about her.

[justiceischeap]

8. I'll be interested in seeing Maloof's version

to see if there's any inconsistencies or more information about her.

[Stevenmarc]

9. Maloof

Has her audio recordings that she did with some of her subjects, that should throw some additional light on the story. I don't expect her to be that chatty about herself but I think her line of questions will be illuminating.

And after watching that doc the needle is at a solid 11.

[ljm2002]

11. The notoriety can not affect her now...

...and these photos are a wonderful treasure trove. I'm glad we are able to see them.

[Omaha Steve]

10. Marta and I just watched the documentary

Mind boggling work.

K&R!