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Vivian Maier: Street Photographer by Vivian…
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Vivian Maier: Street Photographer (original 2012; edition 2011)

by Vivian Maier (Author), John Maloof (Editor), Geoff Dyer (Contributor)

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
406861,727 (4.52)7
"A good street photographer must be possessed of many talents: an eye for detail, light, and composition; impeccable timing; a populist or humanitarian outlook; and a tireless ability to constantly shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot and never miss a moment. It is hard enough to find these qualities in trained photographers with the benefit of schooling and mentors and a community of fellow artists and aficionados supporting and rewarding their efforts. It is incredibly rare to find it in someone with no formal training and no network of peers. Yet Vivian Maier is all of these things, a professional nanny, who from the 1950s until the 1990s took over 100,000 photographs worldwide--from France to New York City to Chicago and dozens of other countries--and yet showed the results to no one. The photos are amazing both for the breadth of the work and for the high quality of the humorous, moving, beautiful, and raw images of all facets of city life in America's post-war golden age. It wasn't until local historian John Maloof purchased a box of Maier's negatives from a Chicago auction house and began collecting and championing her marvelous work just a few years ago that any of it saw the light of day. Presented here for the first time in print, 'Vivian Maier: Street Photographer' collects the best of her incredible, unseen body of work."--Publisher description.… (more)
Member:jburlinson
Title:Vivian Maier: Street Photographer
Authors:Vivian Maier (Author)
Other authors:John Maloof (Editor), Geoff Dyer (Contributor)
Info:powerHouse Books (2011), Edition: 2nd prt., 136 pages
Collections:Your library
Rating:*****
Tags:Photography, SantaThing gift

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Vivian Maier: Street Photographer by John Maloof (Editor) (2012)

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English (6)  Spanish (1)  Italian (1)  All languages (8)
Showing 1-5 of 6 (next | show all)
There were two other books about this woman and her photography in which I had more interest but this was the only book for borrowing that my library offers.

I was a young girl during the time she took her photographs in Chicago and NYC and at times we were both in both places. I was too young to remember my time in Chicago and but I remember NYC well. Even though it was highly unlikely to find photos of people I would recognize included in this book, I unsuccessfully looked for them.

I wish that there was more to this book. Maier was a talented photographer and many of the images she captured were striking, important, artistic. I wanted to see more of them. I am glad that her work was found and its importance was recognized.

I did find many of the photographs in this book depressing and distressing. I thought that all the photos would be candid but many of them seemed posed.

I’m glad that I read this and I’d like to read more about Maier and see all of her work, but I did not enjoy this book as much as I thought I would. I think seeing these images hanging in a museum vs. seeing them on book pages would be more gratifying for me. ( )
  Lisa2013 | Aug 3, 2022 |
The most significant street photographer of the 20th century, whose photographs and negatives had been discarded after her death. ( )
  sfj2 | Jun 11, 2022 |
Amazing. The 100 or so photos in this collection are but a tiny fraction of the 100,000 negatives discovered so far. Was she consistently this good, or are these the one-tenth of one percent best? I don't think it matters; to have taken even 100 good photos in a lifetime is an achievement. Another GR reviewer called her the Emily Dickinson of photography, I think that is apt; as far as is known, she never showed her work to others. Her work has all the ingredients of great street photography: an eye for composition, a sense of the moment, and a recognition of some of the absurd juxtapositions that street life offers but that many of us fail to notice. I could have done with fewer of the clichéd alcoholics in a doorway, but that's a minor quibble. Very glad to have become aware of her work. ( )
1 vote HenrySt123 | Jul 19, 2021 |
Quinto (¿o sexto?) documental!: Finding Vivian Maier. Muy bueno (y, definitivamente, el menos triste que vi en estos días. No lloré casi nada xD)
  LaMala | Jun 7, 2015 |
The discovery of the work of Vivian Maier took the photographic world rather by surprise, surprise that soon turned to storm. She has variously been claimed by street photographers, validating their art; by historians, who revel in these images from the 1950s and `60s; and feminists, who acclaim her work whilst debating her outward status as a woman in a traditional caring role.

Matters are complicated by the woman herself; a loner who carried out her art almost in seclusion. The photographs could easily have been lost without anyone being any the wiser; their rescue, two years before she died, is little short of a miracle. Sadly, John Maloof, the discoverer and rescuer of her work, was unable to track her down before she died.

Of course, the discovery of a body of work like this has caused controversy. Critics and commentators have fallen over themselves to compare her work with others' (especially Diane Arbus) and find similarities, sparking off debate over whether Maier really did work in seclusion all those years, without contact with or influence from other photographers. It is debatable whether a man could have taken these photographs: many of them are quite intimate, and makes me wonder whether a man trying to take similar pictures might have been interpreted as acting aggressively. Maier's choice of camera, a Rolleiflex twin-lens reflex, might also have helped, looking sufficiently old-fashioned to the average person so as not to constitute a threat.

This book merely scratches the surface of the volume of her work - Maloof now has access to over 100,000 negatives, and he also acquired hundreds of reels of undeveloped film, as well as 8mm movie footage. Some of the photographs are fascinating glimpses into other lives of people who have left even less mark on the world than Maier did; others are fascinating views of scenes long gone; still others are interesting or intriguing exercises in pattern, shape and form. Only a few of the photographs in this book have been widely seen before.

There's another fascinating facet to Maier's photography; just as she seems to have worked in a vacuum, insulated from other professional photographers, so the fact of her recent discovery means that other photographers worked in ignorance of her work. I was struck again and again in looking through this book of the similarity between her work and the city sequences in Godfrey Reggio's acclaimed documentary film 'Koyaanisqatsi', made in the late 1970s. My mind's ear kept inserting the soundtrack from 'Koyaanisqatsi' as I viewed certain street scenes, or Maier's pictures of building sites, building demolitions and street people.

In short: an important book of important photographs by an important photographer. ( )
3 vote RobertDay | Dec 2, 2012 |
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» Add other authors

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Maloof, JohnEditorprimary authorall editionsconfirmed
Maier, VivianPhotographermain authorall editionsconfirmed
Dyer, GeoffForewordsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
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"A good street photographer must be possessed of many talents: an eye for detail, light, and composition; impeccable timing; a populist or humanitarian outlook; and a tireless ability to constantly shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot and never miss a moment. It is hard enough to find these qualities in trained photographers with the benefit of schooling and mentors and a community of fellow artists and aficionados supporting and rewarding their efforts. It is incredibly rare to find it in someone with no formal training and no network of peers. Yet Vivian Maier is all of these things, a professional nanny, who from the 1950s until the 1990s took over 100,000 photographs worldwide--from France to New York City to Chicago and dozens of other countries--and yet showed the results to no one. The photos are amazing both for the breadth of the work and for the high quality of the humorous, moving, beautiful, and raw images of all facets of city life in America's post-war golden age. It wasn't until local historian John Maloof purchased a box of Maier's negatives from a Chicago auction house and began collecting and championing her marvelous work just a few years ago that any of it saw the light of day. Presented here for the first time in print, 'Vivian Maier: Street Photographer' collects the best of her incredible, unseen body of work."--Publisher description.

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