“An unassuming Chicago babysitter named Vivian Maier was one of the pioneers of street photography. But for 60 years, nobody knew it.” —The New York Times Style Magazine
When I first saw Vivian Maier’s work online, I was mesmerized. And the story of Vivian Maier is just as fascinating. She was born in New York in 1926 and worked as a nanny for families on Chicago’s North Shore during the 1950s and 60s. She took thousands of photographs in her lifetime, but shared them with hardly anyone. Maier lost possession of her art when her storage locker, where she had been storing her negatives, was sold off for non-payment. Maier passed away in 2009 at the age of 83, and would never know the impact she would have on the photography industry, and photographers like me. In all, she shot around 100,000 photos and slides, all of which have been scanned and digitized. I wanted to see all that there was to see of her work. A large portion of her photographs is available for viewing online, but I desperately wanted something tangible, that I could hold and flip through, at my own pace. I put the book Vivian Maier: Street Photographer on my wishlist this past Christmas, and lucky me, I got it!
This book is such a treasure. It’s a square format book and each page holds a single image roughly 9 x 9 inches in size, with around 100 images total in the book. There is even a small section of self-portraits in the back of the book.
While looking at Vivian Maier’s work, some things hit me – life lessons I guess you’d call them.
- Just because an image isn’t technically perfect, doesn’t mean it isn’t good.
- Don’t be afraid to shoot something. If it strikes a chord with you, then take the picture.
- Who cares if anyone knows you’re good. Shoot what you love and love what you shoot. The rest doesn’t matter.
