Vivian Maier, Part 1
Amazing photographer/Amazing story
Mysterious and Inspiring!

Photo I took of one of the benches along Lake Michigan Shore where Vivian Maier sat.

This is one of the benches at Rogers Beach Park along the shoreline of Lake Michigan near where Vivian Maier sat near her final home off of Sheridan Road, on the border of Evanston and Chicago.
You may have heard the story already. Vivian Maier worked as a nanny in Wilmette and Highland Park in Illinois since the late 1950’s for much of her adult life. Before that, she lived for a while in New York City where she was born and also some time in a small village in France (her parents were French). She lived a rather solitary and simple life, outside the families where she worked. And it was no secret that she was consumed with her interest in taking photographs….mostly with her Rolleiflex film cameras.

One of many self portraits of Vivian Maier.  January, 1965

Vivian was also a hoarder, and later in life kept much of her belongings in a storage locker.
In 2008, she was injured in a fall and subsequently died in poverty at 83 years old in 2009.
A professional scavenger and local author, John Maloof, took a chance and purchased the contents of her storage locker at an auction that was held a year or two before her death. Over time, he discovered that there were thousands of photographic prints, negatives, and undeveloped film. And he realized, after posting some or the images on Flickr, that he had discovered something special.
Special indeed! Vivian’s work has now become well known in photography and art circles. Her images of people and street scenes have been on display around the world. Books have been written about her and about her photos. There have been a few films about her life and her work. In other words, she has been discovered!

In my opinion, she is the “real deal.”  She is now gaining a reputation as, perhaps, one of the top street and urban landscape photographers of the Twentieth Century. The strange and amazing thing about the story is that no one knew of her work until she had died!

Vivian Maier exhibit at the Highland Park Art Center.

So many questions exist about her life and her work. And, since this is a “new” story, much is being discovered all the time. Many or most of the families she worked for are still around. Also, many of the people who appear in her images as children are now coming forward with new information and insights about Vivian Maier.

There are now three primary owners of her negatives and prints.   John Maloof owns the majority of the images followed by Jeffrey Goldstein and a third person. According to one source, Maloof owns 100,000 to 150,000 negatives, more than 3,000 prints, and hundreds of rolls of undeveloped film while Goldstein has 17,500 negatives, 2,000 prints, 30 home movies, and some slides. Wow.

Jeffrey Goldstein-one of the three owners of Vivian Maier’s images

I have had the good fortune to meet and visit with Jeff Goldstein in one of the labs where the work is being stored and handled. He is a very nice guy and is fully committed to Vivian’s images.  He and his staff work very hard on behalf of Vivian Maier’s legacy as, I am sure, are John Maloof and his crew.

Jeffrey Goldstein in one of his Vivian Maier labs

Who knows how this story will evolve. And who can predict the ultimate legacy of Vivian’s work.
And it makes one wonder….what if these images hadn’t been discovered and were, instead, thrown in the trash by someone? Yikes.
What was her motivation?  Her training and background?

This is part one on Vivian. I am fascinated by her life and, most certainly, her work. And I hope I inspired you to learn more about her, too.

Jeffrey Goldstein showing two prints of Vivian’s work

Jeffrey Goldstein looking at some of Vivian Maier’s negatives

 
A small sample of additional resources:

John Maloof’s website
http://www.vivianmaier.com/

Jeffrey Goldstein’s website
http://vivianmaierprints.com/

Movies
“The Vivian Maier Mystery”
“Finding Vivian Maier”

Books
“Vivian Maier: Out of the Shadows”
“Vivian Maier: Street Photographer”

-Stephen M. Levin
“My Mind’s Eye”
www.stephenmlevinphotos.com