Vivian Maier and her photography

[macfred]

Two photographs from France (1959) - here, if not before, it becomes clear VM also had positive interactions with the people depicted; it was not always just the inconspicuous shot from the hip.
I can also clearly recognise Mrs. Maier in these faces.

 

[BrianShaw]

She certainly doesn’t seem to be the shy and sly type of street photographer!

 

[MattKing]

VM also travelled with the families she worked for - including to Vancouver BC Canada!
And she photographed while on those trips.

 

[macfred]

VM also travelled with the families she worked for - including to Vancouver BC Canada!
And she photographed while on those trips.

True!
Here's one from her trip to Canada:

 

[mohmad khatab]

I think there may be a cultural difference in the definition of a nanny. This is not how domestic employment happens in the US.

We have been breathing American cinema for 100 years and we understand very well all American laws, customs and traditions

 

[faberryman]

We have been breathing American cinema for 100 years and we understand very well all American laws, customs and traditions

I watch a lot of American movies. When I grow up I want to be a photographer just like Peter Parker.

 

[BrianShaw]

I watch a lot of American movies. When I grow up I want to be a photographer just like Peter Parker.

Instead of Jimmy Olsen?

 

[faberryman]

Instead of Jimmy Olsen?

I used to want to be a photographer just like Jimmy Olsen. Then I got a Speed Graphic and changed my mind.

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

True!
Here's one from her trip to Canada:
View attachment 293362

I'd love to see what she snapped in Vancouver! It would be great to see if she made any on Hastings, or Granville streets.

 

[Arthurwg]

It's all subjective of course, and everyone seems to have a different definition of 'street photography', but there have been a lot of great photographers associated with that genre, including Robert Frank, Garry Winogrand, Elliott Erwitt, Helen Levitt, Louis Faurer, Leon Levinstein, and Tony Ray-Jones. And that's just scratching the surface. I would be hard-pressed to call any of these photographers a waste of time.

You do make your point. But I don't really choose to spend much time with those photos. A quick glance is usually all that's required.

 

[Pieter12]

You do make your point. But I don't really choose to spend much time with those photos. A quick glance is usually all that's required.

I'd take a great Robert Frank photo over a mediocre Atget any day.

 

[Arthurwg]

I'd take a great Robert Frank photo over a mediocre Atget any day.

I do happen to have an Atget ptint on my wall, but I admit it's mediocre.

 

[Mike Lopez]

I'd take a great Robert Frank photo over a mediocre Atget any day.

I think I'd take a great Frank photo over a mediocre anything...but would you take a great Atget over a mediocre Frank?

 

[Pieter12]

I think I'd take a great Frank photo over a mediocre anything...but would you take a great Atget over a mediocre Frank?

Tough. Frank is more my aesthetic. So I would probably pass on the Atget.

 

[Pioneer]

Two photographs from France (1959) - here, if not before, it becomes clear VM also had positive interactions with the people depicted; it was not always just the inconspicuous shot from the hip.
I can also clearly recognise Mrs. Maier in these faces.

View attachment 293355

View attachment 293356

These are some really terrific portraits, and they are even more amazing when you consider that they were done on the street without the advantage of special lighting in a studio. She had to work hard to get as good as she was so I really hate to infer that hard work wasn't important, but I really do believe she also had a natural eye for good compositions.

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

Interesting review of Ann Marks biography of Vivien Maier.

The Trouble With Writing About Vivian Maier
Biographers get distracted by the photographer’s unusual life story—to the point of diminishing her work itself.
https://newrepublic.com/article/164770/vivian-maier-photographer-biography-review

 

[Pieter12]

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."

 

[Arthurwg]

I'm starting to think she was kinda cute.

 

[macfred]

I'm starting to think she was kinda cute.

This !

 

[Arthurwg]

Really god book review.

 

[faberryman]

This thread, and the one that preceded it, sound a lot like episodes of that Dr. Phil show on TV, not that I have actually ever watched it. After I read some of the posts, I can almost hear the audience clapping wildly, and looking under their seats to see what they have won. Maybe we could get two or three of her biographers on and they could get in a big fight. That being said, I appreciate everyone sharing their professional opinions on Ms. Maier's state of mind. I now have a more comprehensive and accurate understanding of her psychological profile, which has lead to a much greater appreciation of her photography.

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

This thread, and the one that preceded it, sound a lot like episodes of that Dr. Phil show on TV, not that I have actually ever watched it. After I read some of the posts, I can almost hear the audience clapping wildly, and looking under their seats to see what they have won. Maybe we could get two or three of her biographers on and they could get in a big fight. That being said, I appreciate everyone sharing their professional opinions on her state of mind. I now have a more comprehensive and accurate understanding of Ms. Maier's psychological profile, which has lead to a much greater appreciation of her photography.

I think we should all reveal our psychological makeup and mental problems so that we can appreciate one anothers' photography better.

 

[Sirius Glass]

I really appreciate the ongoing comments about her photography rather than biographies put together will very little or no information and a great deal of speculation.

 

[Pieter12]

no information

Really?

 

[Sirius Glass]

Really?

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.