TheCreativeRoutine

The Photography of Vivian Maier

Vivian Maier lived a life of relative obscurity, dying at the age of 83 in a nursing home, after decades of serving as a nanny. She had a hobby that consumed much of her free time, but she passed away without so much as a little recognition for the hobby that has now made her a household name. What hobby was this exactly?

Well, over the last 60 or so years of her life, while serving as a nanny, Maier would wander the streets of New York, or Chicago, or wherever she happened to be at the time, with her camera (most often a Rolleiflex), capturing whatever she saw around her. The result is over 100,000 negatives that Maier was able to amass. They stayed undeveloped until a local Chicago historian purchased at an auction a filing cabinet that just so happened to be filled with some of the most remarkable street and portrait photography the world has ever seen.

may 1976

august 12, 1954, new york, ny

Her color works reminds me of William Eggleston. And her black and white works look like what would have happened had Richard Avedon stayed in the streets his entire career. Yes. I just used the names Eggleston and Avedon to describe Vivan Maier’s photography. But she’s deserving. Maier is that good.

She has all the marks of a brilliant street photographer. Her work is not just people based, nor is it mainly landscape. Her photography is encapsulating in more ways than one. She captures portraits of entire communities and moments. And she also has this amazing ability to draw you into whatever she’s depicting, to get you lost in the photograph.

june, 1971 

undated, chicago, il

Through her photography, Maier became an historian. The shear volume of her work is amazing in of itself, and I found it very difficult to select the few photographs I wanted to feature in this post. I’m never a fan of unnecessary photo dumps, and I narrowed down the photos I selected to only my most favorite of her works…so bear with me if you feel a bit overwhelmed. These are only the photographs that I think best represent her as an artist.

march 31, 1957

1953, new york, ny

One of the things that makes Maier such a brilliant portraitist is her uncanny ability to capture the most potent human expressions. It’s no wonder she’s called the “queen of portraits” (a titled I invented for her that I hope you’ll help me catch on). In all seriousness, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a photographer who captures such revealing portraits of her subjects.

undated, chicago, il

september, 1956, new york, ny

It’s one of Maier’s photos that I’ve chosen for my new wallpaper, perhaps my favorite photo of hers. It combines all of the strongest elements of her photography, and the color is striking. There’s even some street fashion in there!

It’s amazing to think that a woman who died as an obscure retired nanny may one day be considered one of the most significant street photographers of all time.

Cheers guys.