Vivian Maier was an American amateur street photographer from 1926-2009 who worked as a nanny in Chicago for 40 years. During that time, she took over 100,000 photographs primarily of people and cityscapes in Chicago and worldwide. Her photographs were discovered after her death and gained international attention, demonstrating an intimate exploration of family life in 1950s-60s Chicago and New York. Her work was published online in 2008 and a documentary about her was released in 2012, bringing recognition to her photography.

1. VIVIAN
MAIER
1926-2009
KRISTINA KONDRATJEVA
JULIA SCETINA
RISEBA UNIVERSITY
VISUAL SEMIOTICS
06.02.2013

2. VIVIAN MAIER
WAS AN AMERICAN
AMATEUR STREET
PHOTOGRAPHER WHO
WAS BORN IN NEW YORK
BUT GREW UP IN
FRANCE,AND AFTER
RETURNING TO THE U.S.,
WORKED FOR ABOUT
FORTY YEARS AS A NANNY
IN CHICAGO, DURINK
THOSE YEARS SHE TOOK
ABOUT 100,000
PHOTOGRAPHS, PRIMARILY
OF PEOPLE AND
CITYSCAPES IN CHICAGO,
ALTHOUGH SHE TRAVELED
AND PHOTOGRAPHED IN
WORLDWIDE

3. VIVIEN
MAIER
SHE WAS A SOCIALIST,
A FEMINIST, A MOVIE
CRITIC, AND A TELL-IT-
LIKE-IT-IS TYPE OF
PERSON.SHE WORE A
MENS JACKET, MENS
SHOES, AND A LARGE
HAT MOST OF THE
TIME. SHE WAS
CONSTANTLY TAKING
PICTURES, WHICH SHE
DIDN’T SHOW ANYONE

4. VIVIAN MAIER PHOTOGRAPHY
HER IMAGES DEPICT STREET SCENES IN
CHICAGO AND NEW YORK IN THE 1950s AND
1960s.
HER PHOTOGRAPHS DEMONSTRATE AN
INTIMATE EXPLORATION OF FAMILY LIFE.
MAIERS PHOTOGRAPHS AND THE WAY THEY
WERE DISCOVERED, RECEIVED INTERNATIONAL
ATTENTION IN MAINSTREAM MEDIA.
ROLLEFLEX PHOTOAPPARAT

5. VIVIAN MAIER
MAIER COLLECTED RECORDED AUDIOTAPES OF
CONVERSATIONS SHE HAD WITH THE PEOPLE SHE
PHOTOGRAPHED.
HER WORK WAS FIRST PUBLISHED ON THE
INTERNET AT JULY 2008 BY RON SLATTERY
IN 2011 WAS REALESTED A BOOK WITH MAIERS
PHOTOGRAPHS
IN 2012 DOCUMENTARY FILM ABOUT MAIERS AND
MALOOFS DISCOVERY OF HER WORK, TITLED
“FINDING VIVIEN MAIER” IS SCHEDULED FOR
RELEASE.

6. VIVIAN MAIER
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7297794

7. JOHN MALOOF
• 26-YEAR OLD ESTATE
AGENT
• MALOOF BOUGHT 30,000
PRINTS AND NEGATIVES
FROM AN AUCTION
HOUSE
• AFTER PURCHASING THE
FIRST COLLECTION OF
MIER PHOTOGRAPHS IN
2007, MALOOF ACQUIRED
THE REST FROM
ANOTHER BUYER AT THE
SAME AUCTION.
• IN 2009 MALOOF STARTED
TO POST SOME OF
MAIERS PHOTOGRAPHS
IN BLOG.

13. JEFF GOLDESTEIN
HE WAS ABLE TO ACQUIRE
57 PHOTOGRAPHS FROM
RON SLATTERY.
NAW JEFF COLLECTION
INCLUDES 12,000
NEGATIVES,, 700 PRINTS,
20 HOMEMADE MOOVIES.

14. JEFF GOLDESTEIN
“It took me days to look through all of her work. It
inspired me to pick up photography myself. Little by
little, as I progressed as a photographer, I would revisit
Vivian's negatives and I would "see" more in her work. I
bought her same camera and took to the same streets
soon to realize how difficult it was to make images of
her caliber. I discovered the eye she had for
photography through my own practice. Needless to say,
I am attached to her work.”

20. SHADOWS

27. SOURCES
Books
Vivien Maier: Street Photographer (2011)
Vivien Maier: Out of the Shadows (2012)
Walker Evants: American Photographs: Seventy-Fifth
Annyversary Edition (2012)
Internet
http://www.vivianmaier.com
http://vivianmaierprints.com/

28. THANKYOU!