Vivian Maier was a street photographer from the 1950’s to the 1990’s. But nobody saw her amazing work until recently.
Her works are some of the most stunning street photos I’ve ever seen. They were recently discovered in a Chicago auction; the auction house acquired her belongings from her storage locker that was sold off due to delinquent payments. In the collection, there were over 100,000 negatives, thousands of prints, and an untold number of undeveloped film rolls.
Unfortunately she passed away before the buyer tracked her down. Her life is obscure, but her photography is anything but. I’m thrilled that the buyer, John Maloof, has chosen to curate and share her works.
Good street photography is a difficult art… but great street photography takes an innate talent that few of us have. Many of us strive to catch those wonderful moments, but fall short of the mark. Vivian Maier possessed the magic and the talent to harness it.
A huge part of the difficulty is simply aiming a camera at someone. For one thing, it raises suspicion. Also, there is a hesitance to invade someone’s privacy. After those are overcome, snapping the shutter at the right moment is the magic.
Vivian had the ability to see the art in her subject matter. Her photographs are beautiful examples of otherwise mundane life. They implore one to look into and absorb the scene, so as to become a part of it.
