By now, you've probably all read or heard about Vivian Maier-- a nanny/amateur street photographer whose extraordinary photographs remained unknown (and mostly undeveloped) until they were discovered shortly after she died by a young man named John Maloof. If you haven't yet heard the story, then you're in for a treat. Born in New York but raised in France, Vivian Maier moved back to the states and worked as a nanny in Chicago for forty years. During that time, she took about 100,000 photos.
I first discovered her work about a year ago. I'd fallen down an internet rabbit hole one night (as I so often do) and somehow found myself at John Maloof's blog-- the one he started to share her photographs and chronicle the process. I found myself visiting again and again, hoping to see more work posted, hoping to hear a little bit more about her life. Recently, it seems as if the whole story has sort of blown up (it's everywhere) and this is such a good thing. To see her story, her work finally getting the attention it so deserves... well, it's exciting and not something that we often get to watch unfold in real time.
I'd love to share a few Vivian Maier favorites with you today. A few that take my breath away, a few that I keep revisiting:
You can see more of Vivian's Maier's work over at the blog and there's a wonderful piece about her that you can watch here. Currently, a documentary is in the works and there's more information about that over at kickstarter. And if you're in the Chicago area, check out the first exhibit of her work that just opened at the Chicago Cultural Center.
