Vivian Maier and her photography

[Pieter12]

Large leaps of convolutions with sparse information nails it. No personal notes, no diary, and certainly no autobiography. But this is very much off topic. Go to the other thread to get your jollies off.

Inferences based on sparse information, sure. No information, not so. What jollies? I'm just debating here. For all we really know, she never took any of the photos.

 

[jtk]

I really like the concluding paragraph of the review:
If you read enough biographies, you realize that the genre has a fatal flaw, a system error: Every person is unknowable, not least of all to themselves. There is, in everyone, some small cinder of truth that never sees the light of day. Biographers pretend that this cinder can be revealed, and that order can be imposed upon an unruly life. That’s a lie. Ann Marks hasn’t solved the mystery of Maier—why would we want her to? The photographer’s mystery remains intact, suffusing the thousands of indelible images she left behind in those storage lockers. It’s better to look there for the truth of her life, in those pictures of the world that she put away, as if she saw, and understood, what the rest of us never would."

Interesting perspective. Me, I hope I don't look into some "truth" of the lives of others.

 

[doughowk]

From Anne Marks biography of Vivian. it seems that her mental problems did not keep her from photographing. It may have, however, kept her from exhibiting.
Marks mention that she did attend, at least twice, the 1955 Family of Man exhibit. But it may have been to her more a vindication of what she was already doing rather than direction/influence.
Btw, Marks biography is a good read.

 

[Sirius Glass]

From Anne Marks biography of Vivian. it seems that her mental problems did not keep her from photographing. It may have, however, kept her from exhibiting.
Marks mention that she did attend, at least twice, the 1955 Family of Man exhibit. But it may have been to her more a vindication of what she was already doing rather than direction/influence.
Btw, Marks biography is a good read.

Please keep this thread for discussing Vivian Maier's photography and not her life. There is another thread where you are free to trash her as much as your heart desires, but not here.

 

[Pieter12]

Please keep this thread for discussing Vivian Maier's photography and not her life. There is another thread where you are free to trash her as much as your heart desires, but not here.

No. It is about Vivian Maier and her photography. Just not legal issues. Read the original post.

 

[Sirius Glass]

No. It is about Vivian Maier and her photography. Just not legal issues. Read the original post.

You missed the history and the memo, this thread as the title states is about her photography. Go back to trashing the other thread.

 

[Mike Lopez]

The lady doth protest too much, methinks.

 

[MattKing]

If we are going to discuss Vivian Maier's photography, it seems appropriate to discuss factors that may have influenced that photography.
But it certainly would be better to refer to images when discussing those factors.

 

[faberryman]

You missed the history and the memo, this thread as the title states is about her photography. Go back to trashing the other thread.

It's your thread. Why don't you start us out? What are your favorite Vivian Maier photographs and why?

 

[doughowk]

The first sentence of the original post is "This thread is about Vivian Maier and her photography" Unless we're confining the discussion to specific images [eg, technical aspects], seems like we can discuss Vivian herself especially as to her influences, skills, limitations, etc.

 

[Pieter12]

You missed the history and the memo, this thread as the title states is about her photography. Go back to trashing the other thread.

And which one would that be?

 

[jtk]

I think there would more posts about her photography if more had actually seen her work..."her work" means her prints, not just more gossip about her.

 

[Sirius Glass]

And which one would that be?

The one you missed.

 

[Pieter12]

The one you missed.

Thanks. So helpful.

 

[Don_ih]

And which one would that be?

The one you started

https://www.photrio.com/forum/threads/more-vivian-maier.187589/

That thread has a couple of "why is no one talking about her photography" posts. This was supposed to just talk about her photography (namely her photographs).

If we are going to discuss Vivian Maier's photography, it seems appropriate to discuss factors that may have influenced that photography..

There are no interviews with her, she never worked with others as a photographer, she never took photos for anyone - photography as a practise had nothing to do with her work at any point during her life. Also, people are more interested in her story than her actual photos and tend to talk about her like she is a fictional character who can be understood in those terms. People are astoundingly different from movie or book characters, though, and tend to have influences that are absolutely unknowable.

This is what we have. What can we say about her from this? Do we need to say anything about her to talk about her photos?

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

Don, nice selection. She obviously thought about her composition a lot and took time to catch it in the camera. I notice that she was wearing gloves. So she was able to handle a camera with them in the cold. Obviously someone very familiar with her equipment.

 

[Arthurwg]

The pictures are great. We know little about her. But this bickering is a bore. Move to the Soap Box?

 

[Arthurwg]

The pictures are great. We know little about her. But this bickering is a bore. Move to the Soap Box?

 

[Sirius Glass]

I am enjoying her photographs that are being displayed on this thread.

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

 

[MattKing]

There are no interviews with her, she never worked with others as a photographer, she never took photos for anyone - photography as a practise had nothing to do with her work at any point during her life.

No, but a lot of people interacted with her during their lives. In fact, she had a very meaningful effect on many of them.
In particular those of her former charges who she cared for when they were young, and who at least attempted to help her when she aged.
There is also letters and other documentary information extant.
It may be a bit like reading tea leaves, but Vivian Maier isn't the first photographer who has come to the attention of the world after a lifetime of relative obscurity.

 

[Don_ih]

a lot of people interacted with her during their lives. In fact, she had a very meaningful effect on many of them.

None of it is reliable. All of it is tainted by the knowledge "oh, now she's famous and wasn't she talented". Practically nothing documentary regarding her photography exists, except the word of people who were per-adolescent at the time the photos were shot.

It's fodder for gawkers.

 

[faberryman]

None of it is reliable. All of it is tainted by the knowledge "oh, now she's famous and wasn't she talented".

Right, it's like Vivian Maier meets the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principal. The asking of the question renders the answer uncertain.

 

[Sirius Glass]

None of it is reliable. All of it is tainted by the knowledge "oh, now she's famous and wasn't she talented". Practically nothing documentary regarding her photography exists, except the word of people who were per-adolescent at the time the photos were shot.

It's fodder for gawkers.

And that summarizes my complaint about books and article written about Vivian Maier. I started this thread to see her work, but more importantly to see what people think about her work after they flushed to books and articles down the toilet.

 

[CMoore]

I have said it before, so FWIW................ i think she is one of THE Finest photographers that ever walked the Earth.

I will copy and paste that color photo from just a few posts above as an example. Keeping in mind, "Street Photography" is often VERY Fleeting and Unique.
Yosemite, Eiffel Tower, Niagara Falls, The Grand Canyon "Rocks and Trees" ......those things are not going anywhere.
They can and ARE shot over and over again. MOST of what Vivian shot was and will never be seen again.

I hope we see more of her negs brought to life.
As a percentage, i think i like more of her photos that any other photographer i know of.
Turning the pages of the few of her books i have seen or looking at her pictures on line..................it has been one great photo after another.

IMHO she was a Singular and Unique talent.
Like.....
Willie Mays
Joni Mitchell
Niki Lauda
Chester Nimitz
Serena Williams
Just from the perspective of her abilities as a photographer; people like Vivian are not common.
They come along (very) infrequently..

 

[Alex Benjamin]

If you read enough biographies, you realize that the genre has a fatal flaw, a system error: Every person is unknowable, not least of all to themselves. There is, in everyone, some small cinder of truth that never sees the light of day. Biographers pretend that this cinder can be revealed, and that order can be imposed upon an unruly life.

That last statement has to be most most ridiculous generalization I've ever read about the subject. If you read enough good and great biographies - and there are hundreds, if not thousands - you realize that biographers are very aware that "every person is unknowable, not at least to themselves" - and how trite is that idea, my God! Sounds like the opening line of a one-page essay in a psychology 101 class.

What great biographers do is conducti their research and analysis with rigor, discipline, and thoroughness. And when they extrapolate or interpret - which is actually not a bad thing when you're trying to understand someone -, they clearly state so. All this is what seems to be missing in the Marks biography.

Sirius Glass, sorry to have again deflected the subject from the main topic.