Vivian MaierBesprekingen

Un buen fotógrafo callejero debe poseer muchos talentos: ojo para los detalles, la luz y la composición; sincronización impecable; una perspectiva populista o humanitaria; y una habilidad incansable para disparar, disparar, disparar, disparar constantemente y nunca perder un momento. Ya es bastante difícil encontrar estas cualidades en fotógrafos capacitados con el beneficio de la educación y los mentores y una comunidad de compañeros artistas y aficionados que apoyan y recompensan sus esfuerzos. Es increíblemente raro encontrarlo en alguien sin formación formal y sin red de compañeros.

Sin embargo, Vivian Maier es todas estas cosas, una niñera profesional, que desde la década de 1950 hasta la década de 1990 tomó más de 100.000 fotografías en todo el mundo, desde Francia hasta la ciudad de Nueva York, Chicago y docenas de otros países, y sin embargo no mostró los resultados a nadie. Las fotos son asombrosas tanto por la amplitud del trabajo como por la alta calidad de las imágenes humorísticas, conmovedoras, bellas y crudas de todas las facetas de la vida urbana en la época dorada de la posguerra en Estados Unidos.

No fue hasta que el historiador local John Maloof compró una caja de negativos de Maier en una casa de subastas de Chicago y comenzó a coleccionar y defender su maravilloso trabajo hace solo unos años que alguno de ellos vio la luz. Presentado aquí por primera vez en forma impresa, Vivian Maier: Fotógrafa callejera recopila lo mejor de su increíble e invisible cuerpo de trabajo.

There were two other books about this woman and her photography in which I had more interest but this was the only book for borrowing that my library offers.

I was a young girl during the time she took her photographs in Chicago and NYC and at times we were both in both places. I was too young to remember my time in Chicago and but I remember NYC well. Even though it was highly unlikely to find photos of people I would recognize included in this book, I unsuccessfully looked for them.

I wish that there was more to this book. Maier was a talented photographer and many of the images she captured were striking, important, artistic. I wanted to see more of them. I am glad that her work was found and its importance was recognized.

I did find many of the photographs in this book depressing and distressing. I thought that all the photos would be candid but many of them seemed posed.

I’m glad that I read this and I’d like to read more about Maier and see all of her work, but I did not enjoy this book as much as I thought I would. I think seeing these images hanging in a museum vs. seeing them on book pages would be more gratifying for me.

The most significant street photographer of the 20th century, whose photographs and negatives had been discarded after her death.½

Amazing. The 100 or so photos in this collection are but a tiny fraction of the 100,000 negatives discovered so far. Was she consistently this good, or are these the one-tenth of one percent best? I don't think it matters; to have taken even 100 good photos in a lifetime is an achievement. Another GR reviewer called her the Emily Dickinson of photography, I think that is apt; as far as is known, she never showed her work to others. Her work has all the ingredients of great street photography: an eye for composition, a sense of the moment, and a recognition of some of the absurd juxtapositions that street life offers but that many of us fail to notice. I could have done with fewer of the clichéd alcoholics in a doorway, but that's a minor quibble. Very glad to have become aware of her work.

Simply stated, she is the best street photographer of all time. This is some, but not nearly all, of her best work. High-quality book with a nice array of photos.

(Dal libro Vivian Maier. Fotografa, Contrasto, 2015) 9788869656675
https://inedicola.gedi.it/prodotto/vivian-maier-fotografa/

Each and every photograph a true gem.

Quinto (¿o sexto?) documental!: Finding Vivian Maier. Muy bueno (y, definitivamente, el menos triste que vi en estos días. No lloré casi nada xD)

The discovery of the work of Vivian Maier took the photographic world rather by surprise, surprise that soon turned to storm. She has variously been claimed by street photographers, validating their art; by historians, who revel in these images from the 1950s and `60s; and feminists, who acclaim her work whilst debating her outward status as a woman in a traditional caring role.

Matters are complicated by the woman herself; a loner who carried out her art almost in seclusion. The photographs could easily have been lost without anyone being any the wiser; their rescue, two years before she died, is little short of a miracle. Sadly, John Maloof, the discoverer and rescuer of her work, was unable to track her down before she died.

Of course, the discovery of a body of work like this has caused controversy. Critics and commentators have fallen over themselves to compare her work with others' (especially Diane Arbus) and find similarities, sparking off debate over whether Maier really did work in seclusion all those years, without contact with or influence from other photographers. It is debatable whether a man could have taken these photographs: many of them are quite intimate, and makes me wonder whether a man trying to take similar pictures might have been interpreted as acting aggressively. Maier's choice of camera, a Rolleiflex twin-lens reflex, might also have helped, looking sufficiently old-fashioned to the average person so as not to constitute a threat.

This book merely scratches the surface of the volume of her work - Maloof now has access to over 100,000 negatives, and he also acquired hundreds of reels of undeveloped film, as well as 8mm movie footage. Some of the photographs are fascinating glimpses into other lives of people who have left even less mark on the world than Maier did; others are fascinating views of scenes long gone; still others are interesting or intriguing exercises in pattern, shape and form. Only a few of the photographs in this book have been widely seen before.

There's another fascinating facet to Maier's photography; just as she seems to have worked in a vacuum, insulated from other professional photographers, so the fact of her recent discovery means that other photographers worked in ignorance of her work. I was struck again and again in looking through this book of the similarity between her work and the city sequences in Godfrey Reggio's acclaimed documentary film 'Koyaanisqatsi', made in the late 1970s. My mind's ear kept inserting the soundtrack from 'Koyaanisqatsi' as I viewed certain street scenes, or Maier's pictures of building sites, building demolitions and street people.

In short: an important book of important photographs by an important photographer.

Vivian Maier, a nanny and street photographer, was posthumously discovered by John Maloof, a real estate agent. He was looking for information on and photos of the Chicago northwest side neighborhood where he grew up for a book he was writing. Serendipitously, he went to an auction by a storage locker company to cover unpaid rental bills, bid on a box of photographs taken by Ms Maier and struck gold, so to speak. Other boxes of her photos and negatives were purchased by others at the auction and eventually were tracked down and purchased by Maloof. He now has well over 100,000 negatives and prints, much undeveloped roll film and the like.

Without going into much detail, the stories of her discovery and, most of all, the photographs, have become a sensation. Maier was active mostly in the 1950s and 1960s in Chicago and New York City and those cities are the focus of the book of some 120 pages. All the photos in the book are black & white and very urban and many are quite gritty feeling. They quite evoke city life in - primarily - the 1950s.

General information on Vivian Maier here. Includes an interesting time lapse video of the prep and showing of a London exhibition of her work.

Vivian Maier on Blogspot is here.

Two New York Times articles or blogs about her... One... --- Two...

Wikipedia - you know you have made it when a Wikipedia article is devoted to you... has a fairly full bio and more links on Ms Maier.

I'm sure we haven't heard the last of Ms Maier's work. If you search Vivian Maier, John Maloof and street photographer, you will get many, many links to articles, exhibits and the like.

There is very little text in the book, pretty much just the photos speaking for themselves. I'd question the inclusion of a couple of photos, but that seems somewhat inconsequential.

If you like street photography or gritty, urban feeling photos from the 1950s, you will likely enjoy this book.

Another book with additional photos and more detail on her personally is Vivian Maier: Out of the Shadows by Richard Cahan, Michael Williams.

As of April, 2014 a documentary film, 'Finding Vivian Maier,' has hit the art theaters. If you have an interest in either Vivian Maier's photo work or in the very interesting story of her discovery by John Maloof, I'd recommend it highly. Here is the trailer for the film.½