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kottke.org posts about Vivian Maier

Vivian Maier: Unseen Work

The first major US retrospective of Vivian Maier’s photography is currently on display at Fotografiska New York through Sept 29. Maier was a street photographer whose work was discovered in 2007 and is now recognized “alongside the greatest masters of the twentieth century”.

black & white photo of a woman looking to the right in front of a building

black & white photo of two girls playing on the street in front of a car

black & white self portrait of Vivian Maier reflected in a store window

two black & white photos of a man and a child sittng on a bench with a balloon

photo of three people on a street corner, all wearing the color yellow

You can see much more of Maier’s work on this website of her work.

Reply ยท 4

Five iconic female photographers

Lomography has a list of the Top Five Iconic Female Photographers. I had never heard of Julia Margaret Cameron before โ€” you can check out some of her fantastic work here โ€” but Diane Arbus, Margaret Bourke-White, Dorothea Lange, and Vivian Maier are all favorites of mine. Here’s a photograph from each:

Arbus Grenade

White Bread Line

Migrant Woman

Maier Reflection


Finding Vivian Maier now out in theaters

Now showing at IFC Center in NYC: Finding Vivian Maier. Maier is the Chicago street photographer whose extensive and impressive body of work was recently discovered at an auction. John Maloof bought Maier’s work, started posting it to a blog several years ago, did a Kickstarter (one of the first I backed) to fund a documentary about Maier and her photos, and now the film is showing in theaters around the US and Canada.


Trailer for Finding Vivian Maier

The documentary about recently discovered street photographer Vivian Maier that was funded via Kickstarter almost two years ago is finally getting somewhere. Here’s the trailer for the film, which appears to involve a crazy twist in Maier’s story.


Vivian Maier self portraits

A lovely collection of self portraits by Vivian Maier.

Vivian Maier self portrait

Maier, you’ll recall, is the street photographer whose photos were discovered at a Chicago thrift store in 2007.


Vivian Maier documentary

Last year I posted about the discovery of an extensive body of photographic work by the previously unknown Vivian Maier. Now, a documentary film is in the planning stages and the producers are asking for funds on Kickstarter.

Vivian Maier’s photographs were seemingly destined for obscurity, lost among the clutter of the countless objects she’d collected throughout her life. Instead these images have shocked the world of street photography and irrevocably changed the life of the man who brought them to the public eye. This film brings to life the improbable saga of John Maloof’s discovery of Vivian Maier. Along with her documentary films, photographs, odd collections, and accounts from people who knew her, we take you on the journey of ‘Finding Vivian Maier’.

Backed it!


Vivian Maier, recently discovered street photographer

Vivian Maier was a street photographer from the 1950s-70s in Chicago whose extensive body of work (40,000 negatives) was recently discovered at an auction. This blog is presenting that work to the public for (I think) the first time.

Vivian Maier

(thx, frank)

Update: Blake Andrews discusses some other photographers who came late to the public eye.

The other X factor in recognition is a curatorial champion. Bellocq had Friedlander. Atget had Abbot. Disfarmer had Miller. Without their discoverers, these photographers might still be anonymous. For Maier it’s been John Maloof. An interesting mental experiment is to wonder what would’ve happened had Maier posted her own photos on a blog while still alive. Would they have the same impact? Or would they just be another series of old images from some self-promoting has-been?