Pho·tog Friday: Vivian Maier (Part I)

What if I told you that one of the most famous street photographers of the 20th century, Vivian Maier, was recently discovered?  By that I mean, Maier's photographs have remained hidden in boxes, storage units and closets for decades; never to see the light of day until a few years ago. Would you believe me? What if I also said that this photographer was discovered by a real estate agent? It's true.

 

Maier, Vivian, Self-Portrait, ND.

John Maloof, real estate agent and president of the local Historical Society on Chicago's Northwest Side, was working on a history book and was seeking images taken of Chicago during the 1950's and 60's.  In an attempts to find old images for his book, Maloof went to an auction in 2005 and came across a large box of negatives, which he purchased for $400.  Unfortunately, Maloof was not able to use the images for his book so they remained in a closet until 2009 when he began to scan them.  Interestingly enough, Maloof admits that when he began this project, he knew very little about photography.  Maloof posted a a link to Vivian Maier's work to Flickr's "Hardcore Street Photography" Group and asked a simple question, "...what do I do with this stuff?".  

Maier, Vivian, Contact Sheet, ND.

Maloof set out on a mission to obtain more of her negatives, her personal belongings and most importantly, Maier's story.  Through the objects that Maloof was given, collected and purchased, he was able to piece together Maier's life story. "Over the course of a year, John (Maloof) managed to save about 90% of her work from the other buyers at the original auction to accumulate a collection of 100,000 to 150,000 negatives, more than 3,000 prints, hundreds of rolls of film, home movies, audio tape interviews, and various other items. Another collector, Jeff Goldstein, managed to salvage the rest" (The Website of Vivian Miers / Maloof Collection).

So... who was Vivian Maier? 

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01. Maloof, John. "Vivian Maier Photographer | Official Website of Vivian Maier | Vivian Maier Portfolios, Prints, Exhibitions, Books and Documentary Film." Vivian Maier Photographer. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Mar. 2014.

02. Maloof, John. "Hardcore Street Photography Group." Flickr. Yahoo!, n.d. Web. 27 Mar. 2014.

03. "Vivian Maier." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 27 Mar. 2014. Web. 27 Mar. 2014.

04. Jarvis, Chase. "Interview with a Collector — The Discovery and Legacy of the Vivian Maier Collection." Chase Jarvis Blog. N.p., 4 Feb. 2013. Web. 27 Mar. 2014.

05. Maloof, John. "Documentary Film Finding Vivian Maier | Vivian Maier Photographer." Vivian Maier Photographer. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Mar. 2014.

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