I remember the day just a few years ago that I discovered her. As a photographer, for me, she went from zero to hero over the course of 90 minutes. Actually, many have had a similar experience. Even highly respected and renowned professional photographers. You see, were it not for the fact that her "worthless" rolls of negatives fell into the right hands by means of a storage locker sale no one would know her to this day!
Please Also See These Reviews of my Other Favorite Monochrome Photographers
The Old Dog Presents: Monochrome Master. The Great Edward S. Curtis
The Old Dog Presents: Monochrome Master No.2 The Spectacular Frank Hurley
The mysterious Vivian Meir was born on February 1, 1926 in New York City and she died on April 21, 2009 in Chicago Illinois. For about 40 years she worked as a professional nanny for various families. This allowed her the freedom that she craved because as she took the children under he care on strolls and to parks she snapped an incredible number of photographs.
Her biggest passion was street photography and by using a Rolleiflex camera which is held at waist height she was able to remain inconspicuous while at the same time shooting from a low angle which adds a lot of drama to her photographs.
One of Vivian Maier's many self portraits shot with one of her Rolleiflex cameras. Check out the others which are incredibly creative and artistic! Photo credit
How I discovered Vivian Meir
A few years back I was looking for an interesting documentary to watch and I came across the 2013 film "Finding Vivian Maier" Please have a look at the short trailer below. I'm convinced that you'll find it fascinating!
"This intriguing documentary shuttles from New York to France to Chicago as it traces the life story of the late Vivien Maier, a career nanny whose previously unknown cache of 100,000 photographs has earned her a posthumous reputation as one of America's most accomplished and insightful street photographers." Tiff Originals
This BBC Documentary Calls Her One of The Most Intriguing Photographers of The 20th Century!
"She was a poet of suburbia, a secret street photographer before the term was really invented." BBC Imagine Vivian Maier.
Quick Facts About Vivian Meir
- Over the course of her life she took about 150,000 photographs!
- While most of her photos were taken in Chicago and New York City from 1959-1960 she traveled around the world taking pictures in Los Angeles, Manila, Bangkok, Shanghai, Beijing, India, Egypt and Italy.
- Maier once worked as a house keeper for the talk show host Phil Donahue.
- Throughout her life she presented herself with various personas and accents. I know, I know artists are often a strange breed but we love them!
- Her life's work was discovered by accident in storage lockers in Chicago!
- John Maloof owns the majority of her work which consists of between 100-150,000 negatives, over 3,000 prints, hundreds of rolls of film, home movies, audio interviews and various other items.
Please Take The Time to Look at Her Portfolio
I am sure that you'll be amazed as you explore the work of this photographer. Luckily for us John Maloof has done a wonderful job showcasing it in exhibitions around the world and there are extensive examples of her work in very high quality at his web site here! Even I was blessed to see an exhibition of her photos in the small town of Chiasso Switzerland which is near my home!
Here Are Just a Few More Examples!
I grabbed these examples from the web site but believe me one is better then the next. Take a look and see for yourself!
Words cannot describe how much I love the work of Vivian Maier!
What About You?
- Had you already heard of Vivian Maier?
- Have you seen the documentary film "Finding Vivian Maier?
- Are you a fan of black and white photography?
Don't forget to support @old-guy-photos one of our great Steemians and the man behind Monochrome Monday!
I hope that you enjoyed this article "Monochrome Master No.3 The Mysterious Vivian Maier!"
Until next time,
@kus-knee (The Old Dog)
