If you’ve never heard of Vivian Maier, she took hundreds and
hundreds of photographs. Although unknown during her life many in the “Art World”
today believe she was one of the best, most prolific photographers of the 20th
century. I came across a photo book of Vivian Maier’s in a used book store many
years ago. Many of Maier’s photos never saw the light of
day, sitting undeveloped until a John Maloff in 2007 bought a box of Vivian
Maier’s photos of Chicago in the 60’s for a history project. Maier’s photos are
now world renown. Several years after I saw that first photo book of hers in
that used bookstore, I stumbled on a photo exhibit of hers in Rome and bought
the book, it was in Italian.
What’s been discovered about Maier was that she was a nanny,
sometimes a maid. Of all the stories
people tell about Maier no one had any idea of Maier’s real self. All the people that they found who Maier
worked for or knew said the same thing when they heard about her photos, “She
was only a maid, who would have thought she took pictures like this.” “Only a maid.” I just want you to know I was a live-in maid
in NYC. I’ve had menial jobs most of my
life and this doesn’t define me or Maier, or our intellect, or what’s in our
hearts, or even what we are capable of and after her death it’s been proven Maier’s
jobs didn’t define her.
The lesson from Maier’s assumed uneventful life that for Maier was full of events, never assume that a person’s station or job in life sums up who they are and what they are capable of. Don’t stereo type someone with little means as little people. People of all means have dreams, ambitions and are capable of realizing those dreams and ambitions. Ambitions don’t have to be money motivated. They can include all kinds of passions for life, these passions bring happiness. Poverty only has to do with money, not with fulfillment, happiness, or what makes a person who they are.
Maier’s family was completely out of the picture very early
on in her life, forcing her to become singular, as she would remain for the
rest of her life. She never married, had no children, nor any very close
friends that could say they “knew” her on a personal level. On top of being a maid Vivian was a spinster. When I look at this, then look at her photographs,
I can understand who she is. The camera
built her world. Looking at Maier’s photographs,
they expose some very personal moments of many people on the street. The camera brought Maier into the world and
in turn the camera bought the world into her life. That life was rich with images. When Maier asked people to poise for her it brought
her into personal moments of people’s lives and in return these people’s images
became a permanent part of Maier’s life.
Maier’s self-portraits bring us into moments of her
life. Many of these self portraits show Maier in
reflection of a window, a mirror, as a shadow or one of my favorites shows
Maier in a small mirror in the middle of her shadow towering over her image in
the mirror. This self-portrait tells us Maier
understands the complexities of composition.
She understands how to build on images in a frame to create an interesting,
complex story. We see this in a lot of
her images of the people she took pictures of on the street as well. Through her photography Maier depends her
understand of humanity and I am sure and deeper understanding of her life and
how she fits into the world.
The photographs give us a glimpse into a rich, focused life,
well hidden from public view, protecting an individual. From what? We can only speculate. During Maier’s life women were not acknowledged
as doing extraordinary things, and single women were vulnerable particularly if
they didn’t have money. So many unanswered
questions. What if Maier had submitted
her photos to museum, or tried to get help to exhibit them, would she have been
welcomed in the art world? I am moved
that she has been discovered. I hold her
up as a great woman of her time and can’t help but wonder how many more Vivian
Maier’s there are out there waiting to be discovered.
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