Vivian Maier (1926-2009) The Discovery of an Extraordinary Social Landscape Photographer
Vivian Maier, Chicago social landscape photographer from the 1950s - 1990s.
As a loner and private person, Vivian Maier's breathtaking photographic work was never seen – much of it never even developed. Recently discovered, it is now being shared with the world. You will love this story!
The discovery of Vivian's Maier’s work begins in 2007, when a box of her negatives were purchased at a furniture and antique auction by John Maloof, a 26 year-old Chicago real estate agent. At the time the young Maloof thought the photographer's work might provide a little visual interest for a book he was working on about Chicago’s northwest side. As he scanned the photos it didn’t take him long to realize he had discovered something breathtaking. Since that discovery Mr. Maloof has continued to acquire over 100,000 mostly medium format negatives, thousands of prints, and 20-30,000 negatives still in rolls, undeveloped from the 1960's-1970's. He has scanned and archived about 10,000 negatives (But there are still more than 90,000 negatives to scan and hundreds of rolls of film left to develop).
From Maloof’s blog:
“From what I know, the auction house acquired her belongings from her storage locker that was sold off due to delinquent payments. I didn't know what 'street photography' was when I purchased them.
It took me days to look through all of her work. It inspired me to pick up photography myself. Little by little, as I progressed as a photographer, I would revisit Vivian's negatives and I would "see" more in her work. I bought her same camera and took to the same streets soon to realize how difficult it was to make images of her caliber. I discovered the eye she had for photography through my own practice. Needless to say, I am attached to her work.”
Continued on the next page
Follow Technorati