She was my nanny circa late 1970s. I must have been between 4 and 6 years old. We never saw a camera, but we did see the stacks of newspapers that cluttered her room. Incredible story.
Second that! Short of just throwing out all of her negative, Maier did nothing to preserve her legacy. Perhaps she never recognized what she had accomplished, just treating her photography as something to do on her day off. We'll really never know. I think folks do not understand that her total body of work is a presentation of urban life in the 1940s and 50s which has unique in its breadth of subjects, particularly racial diversity at a time when racial separation and discrimination was the norm, not the exception. I doubt that she would be able to walk some of those black neighborhoods today, or get such a diversity of black persons to pose for her. People today are far too suspicious and image conscious.
This video brought tears to my eyes, I am an painter and digital art photographer and I have seen the work of great photographers. Vivian Maier stands tall with all of the greats and this is wonderful. It is a high point for women photographers, for American photography and a thrilling find so extensive it will be bringing us treasure after treasure for a long, long time to come. We are all blessed by her efforts. Her gift is well received in youthful and dedicated hands. Thank you
He tried to get many museums' help in this but they declined. And now everybody's talking about how her relatives should have all of Vivian's work instead of Maloof which i think is absurd because obviously they weren't around for Vivian at all and maybe she meant for her story to be discovered in this sort of way, otherwise she would've had it destroyed before she passed away so nobody would ever encounter it. Besides this young man rescued her work and his goal is to put her in history books, now everyone's just jealous of him
This is an amazing find. I just saw an exhibit of Robert Frank's The Americans and it looks like this collection may well exceed it. WOW. Thanks to the makers and poster of this clip!
So moving.... Her photographs are just so real and captured so accurately of her time... couldn't stop tearing up.... Treasures....simply remarkable...
Amazing, I have lived near chicago all my life, the way she was able to show it in her "unique way" amazes me. She lights a fire in my. She maakes me Happy
Her work is absolutely amazing!!!! This is such a treasure!! This guy who is putting all this work into this should make a whole lot of money with this, those pictures are pricless!
Wow, what a story what a great discovery and so lucky that these precious negatives ended up in the right hands. There is no question that Vivian Maier is one of the great photographers of our time.
I was extremely moved my this story as well as her amazing photographs. A true find. I am grateful to have the pleasure of viewing her images. She left a treasure chest behind. Zari Intl USA / Europa Photo Representative
Ms Maier was a true artist. She definitely had a natural gift in the appreciation of fine arts as well as a significant contributor of. Looking at her B&W work has been most inspiring for me. Thank you so much for what you are doing, sharing her work with the world.
This is the most fascinating story I heard in a while, but the foto's she makes are even more fascinating. I'm really really into photogaphy and want to dedicate my live to it. This story grabs me to the hearth. She photographed just for the sake of photographing not to get famous or anything. I think that's what being a real artist is all about.
I am stunned! This is amazing work. From the small sampling I've seen so far I would rank her up there with Harry Callahan, Robert Frank and even Diane Arbus. This is the most significant discovery of an unknown photographer since Julia Scully stumbled across the work of Mike Disfarmer in the 70s. I look forward to years of discovery as Vivian Maier's unprocessed and not-yet-seen work is scanned and shared.
I just discovered her recently and I’m amazed by her work, really. I like her photos better than most of the stuff of so called established celebrity street photographers.
Reclusive indeed. We'll never really know how she related to her own work in terms of her thoughts. But then again there's something to be said for the fact that the photos go a long way to revealing how she saw the world as good really. My own opinion is that she must've understood how what we leave behind speaks after we're gone. Through her, all of those subjects have been made 'immortal' somewhat. I find the work to be a kind of respect for people. We were here with lives like you.
This work is so beautiful-- the raw emotion and the form and the composition. I've watched this video several times, and the bits of her work that they do show makes me cry every time. Absolutely wonderful.
I am VERY much looking forward to seeing these masterpieces published! Just what's shown here is astonishingly good. And to think of how much MORE there is!
Photography story of the century, here we have a true artist with talent beyond belief, not even claiming recognition, ultimate in true genius, and to devote himself to the massive archive job deserves respect, these photos are in the top 5 street works i have seen in my long professional life in art and photography.
Her photographs inspire me. These are some of the best photos I have ever seen. There are not enough words to describe how amazing her work was. She may be gone, but her work will live on forever and she will be remembered as one of the best photographers that ever existed.
wow,this is breathtaking....a shy artist but a great one, probably she didn't realize how her eyes caught pieces of life that will last forever. thank you Vivian!
This is an incredibly moving story. Maier's photos are strange and beautiful--her shots of Chicago resonate with my own childhood memories of life in that city.
It's when I see photos like these when I realise what a great photo really looks like. I go on flickr a fair bit but this stuff is amazing. And the story behind it all is incredible. Thanks for uploading this video!
my husband shoots with a Rolliflex camera and adores street photography, When I saw her images it brought tears to my eyes. I feel this particular kind of photography truly captures the world in it's true element and can be breath-taking in it's candidness and spontaneity.
I think she would be very flattered spoken from a bit of a loner myself. Everybody likes a compliment. These images are amazing. I think her story would make a good movie.
Thank you SO much for sharing this! I happened to stumble upon one of her exhibitions today, and I immediately thought of this video. Funny how memory still works after all this time, eh? Have you ever seen her work in person yourself?
I haven't been so deeply moved by someones work in years the way many of Miss Maier's photos have done. Something tells me that for her, recognition was just not necessary. Sometimes a person does what they do simply because they love doing it and that's more than enough. All of the kudos and accolades from others cannot compete with that. I for one am thankful that someone considerate has landed the task of guardianship.
every time I watch something I tear up, thinking about how incredible she was and is, but also wondering if releasing her talent into the world is something that she would have wanted. She is truly incredible.
That video has just blown me away.... I n a way it's a shame she'll never realise how much her work was appreciated! And to think a lot of her work was negatives so she never even got to see how brilliant she was. An amazing talent..........
I discoverd her 2 years ago and i was amazed by her work,she photographed all her life and she never went to anyone to publish her work,nowdays people want a recognition even for a piece of paper. I think she is the proof of the word passion.
yes, it is amazing!... and such a very touching story , we are all here in this life just for a while and we all will definitely make room for others, it is important what we are doing and what we left behind us !...
What a great story. I love hearing about diamonds in the rough, unknown savants never recognized in their lifetime. It seems almost more fitting to be discovered that way. People who live their lives in drudgery and toil, working the 9 to 5 and then they die and people find mountains of pictures or letters or diaries or poems or paintings or whatever. Shows you can pursue your dreams, and it shouldn't even matter if you'll ever make it big because you're doing what you love.
Wonderful story. She was very talented and was very passionate for photography. To be so good and not known is one thing but not talking to anyone about her photos or showing any of her work just makes her more mysterious. I think her work is very good and as good as the well-known photographers of the 20th century. And she did it with a 120 camera, which I think is more challenging than a 35mm.
@watcher9214 Thank you for the reply. This music was beautiful so I was really curious. Also, thank you so much for making this video. You did an amazing job. This is an extremely wonderful and moving video.
