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| Maier, Vivian, Self-Portrait, (Left to Right) 5.5.1955; 1955. |
Part IV of this "Pho·tog Friday" Series on Vivian Maier is dedicated to her black and white self-portraits taken with her trusty Rolleiflex Camera. Before the days of "front facing" camera flips to take a "selfie" (a word no respectable photographer should actually use), there was the reflection (and occasional shadow) to take a "self-portrait". Along with her photographs shot of ladies shopping on the street, homeless people, children, actors, musicians, and the like, Maier also took many self-portraits throughout her photographic career.
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| Maier, Vivian, Self-Portrait, (Left to Right) ND, 1954. |
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| Maier, Vivian, Self-Portrait, (Left to Right) 1956, ND. |
What I find interesting about some of her self-portraits is how she also includes other bystanders or in a few cases, the children she would nanny for. In many of her photos, there's a strong sense of Maier being an "outsider" and "looking in" on the lives of others. In the photograph below to the left for example, Maier's shadow is positioned in the lower left hand corner of the frame, facing the traffic on the street. Couple this theory of Maier being an "on looker" with the fact that she was a nanny, one might assume that she saw herself as a "fairy godmother" of sorts; freezing potentially precarious moments with her camera.
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| Maier, Vivian, Self-Portrait, (Left to Right) ND, 1954. |
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| Maier, Vivian, Self-Portrait, (Left to Right) 1953, 1971. |
However, the nature of a self-portrait is for the photographer to study him/herself as an individual. In the two photographs further below, I believe Maier is able to do so but surrounding herself with inanimate objects in a store front as she peers through her lens and is seen in a mirror.
In the Finding Viivan Maier film by John Maloof, one of the subjects Maloof interviews tells him that Maier called herself "sort of a spy". From what we learned in Part III of this series, Maier also collected many different newspaper articles that pertained to local crime, mainly committed against women. Given this fact - I'll propose another theory: Maier did indeed see herself as a protector of society, mainly women, young girls and underprivileged citizens. This "spy" aspect of Maier's personality can also be seen via her posture within some of her self-portraits: standing up right with a rigid back and looking directly into the lens. Maier makes a very strong connection to the viewer, almost as if to say, "I'm here, I see what you're doing and I'm not budging".
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| Maier, Vivian, Self-Portrait, (Left to Right) 1953, 1971. |
However, Maier did budge... when she traveled around the world. Stay tuned for Part V to learn about Maier's travels!
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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. "Vivian Maier." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 27 Mar. 2014. Web. 27 Mar. 2014.