Well, we've heard of Vivian Maier

Peter Simpson · Dec 4, 2011

There's an article about her in the latest issue of Smithsonian as well.

Gerald C Koch · Dec 4, 2011

CGW said:
Thanfully there are still people who appreciate art in its truest sense.

"Art" as defined by whom? Would art in a slightly less than true sense still be "art?" I guess art without commerce is just a hobby.

Maier will always be a mystery. We'll never know how or why she chose to shoot what she did the way she did. I'm sick of the comparisons, too. Can't the work stand on its own?

On that, this tart little piece is a funny but true riff on the perils of being "derivative."

http://portable.tv/loves/post/photographers-you-should-ignore/

I am sick of people who always think that there is some secret motive in what people say. When I said "truest sense" I meant that both photographers had little interest in achieving fame. When I compared Maier and Atget I was not commenting on their work only that each was unknown during their lifetime. They both achieved fame only after death by the intercession of a single person.

dasBlute · Dec 5, 2011

CGW said:
I'm sick of the comparisons, too. Can't the work stand on its own?

I feel comparisons are an extremely valid and useful tool in placing work into context,
especially for someone who's never seen the work. Frankly, it's one of my fundamental
methods of learning, chaining relationships together. It's how I got from Page's
'Since I've been loving you' all the way to Rev Gary Davis' 'Children of Zion',
and Son House's 'Death Letter Blues'.

One could debate the ability of any work to "stand on it's own".
To consciously "not be like anyone else" is to be strongly influenced by
what everyone else has done.

h.v. · Dec 5, 2011

dasBlute said:
I just received a copy of the book, "Vivian Maier: Street Photographer", and was unprepared.

Some of her photos could be seemlessly slipped into a collection of Kertész, or Walker Evans,
or Eugene Smith [think Pittsburg project]. There is a consistency of vision, a compassion,
a thoughtful eye, a marvelous sense of timing, a dedication of years.

One could do far less than she, I bow in respect.

-Tim

I agree, Vivian is just an exceptional photographer and I hope there are more Vivian Maier: Street Photographer books in the coming years. She will most likely be remembered as a great street photographer among the likes of Walker Evans, Atget, Diane Arbus, Elliott Erwitt, and Henri Cartier-Bresson.

Tom Stanworth · Dec 6, 2011

I guess my opinion differs from most in that I find her work very good but lacking in the vision and uniqueness of the famous names she is sometimes compared to. I feel that her work almost entirely lacks the magic that catapulted these people from being 'very good' to icons. Its lovely work, for sure, but does not progress any further for me. I dont think she will be remembered as an Arbus or HCB, but will stand corrected when and if she is!

jvo · Dec 28, 2011

remember

Tom Stanworth said:
I guess my opinion differs from most in that I find her work very good but lacking in the vision and uniqueness of the famous names she is sometimes compared to. I feel that her work almost entirely lacks the magic that catapulted these people from being 'very good' to icons. Its lovely work, for sure, but does not progress any further for me. I dont think she will be remembered as an Arbus or HCB, but will stand corrected when and if she is!

we are seeing here work now... keep in mind she was a predecessor or a contemporary of many of those we revere today as great... what would her impact have been were she known, her work exhibited, and thus honored today?

Merg Ross · Dec 29, 2011

She will become the darling of curators in the next decade, certainly in this country, and perhaps beyond. Recently learning that her work has not been cropped or manipulated, I believe that it ranks with the best of the documentary street photographers, past or present. Her wonderful sense of humor and pathos, accompanied by a keen sense of composition and selective focus, results in some truly stellar work. A vision completely different from my own, but very well executed. Bravo to Vivian Maier!

www.mergross.com

zsas · Feb 15, 2013

The owner of most of her work has commissioned (through Kickstarter) a documentary and the trailer, for the film, which will be released later this year is below...
http://youtu.be/2o2nBhQ67Zc

pbromaghin · Feb 15, 2013

Wow. I know the guy who at the very end says he wishes he had found the negs instead. He told me he was interviewed but never said anything about being in a movie.

batwister · Feb 16, 2013

pbromaghin said:
Wow. I know the guy who at the very end says he wishes he had found the negs instead. He told me he was interviewed but never said anything about being in a movie.

I'm shocked that Tim Roth is in a movie...

jvo · Feb 17, 2013

for those in US/southeast

http://fmopa.org/explore/upcoming-exhibitions/vivian-maier-out-of-the-shadows/

jvo

Dan Henderson · Feb 17, 2013

JimO said:
for those in US/southeast

http://fmopa.org/explore/upcoming-exhibitions/vivian-maier-out-of-the-shadows/

jvo

Or for those of us a few hundred miles north, the O. Winston Link Museum in Roanoke, VA will be exhibiting 32 of Maier's photographs on loan from the Jackson Fine Art Gallery in Atlanta. The exhibit runs from February 23 to May 6.

Well, we've heard of Vivian Maier

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