Finding Vivian Maier (5 Stars)

This is one of the best documentaries I've ever seen. It unravels like a mystery.

In 2007 a young man called John Maloof bought a box of photo negatives from an auction in Chicago. His intention was to find photos for research on recent Chicago history. He was overwhelmed by what he found. The box contained thousands of photos taken by a woman called Vivian Maier. The artistic quality was exceptional. But who was Vivian Maier? He began to search for her, using written notes in the box as clues.

There were phone numbers, but in the 1950's and 1960's, when most of the photos were taken, there were no area codes, so John began to ring the numbers with random area codes, until he found the right people. She had worked as a children's nanny in various homes over the decades. The last family was still paying the rent for a storage room with her junk that they wanted to dispose of. John was allowed to take whatever he wanted. He found many more negatives, including undeveloped film rolls. Slowly he pieced together details of her life.

Throughout his search he was amazed that a woman with such talent had never attempted to sell her pictures. She was happy taking photos in secret, just for herself. She had no intention of achieving any sort of fame. She was an obsessive photographer who carried her camera with her wherever she went. She was also an obsessive collector. She kept receipts of her purchases for decades. She also collected newspapers, especially if the headlines were melodramatic murder cases. One of her employers said that her room was so full of piles of newspapers that it was difficult to walk from the door to her bed.

Despite talking to many people who knew her, John Maloof makes no claim to have figured her out. She was an aloof person who never opened up to anyone. She spoke with a fake French accent. The mystery of her life was never fully solved. But one success is that her photos have been made public. They've been displayed at art galleries. John claims that art critics have never fully recognised her, but her images have fascinated everyone who looks at them.

The website vivianmaier.com contains many examples of her photography. I'll just post this one photo, taken in 1955, that strongly appeals to me.

John states more than once that Vivian would probably have been unhappy at her photos being published after her death. They were taken for herself, not for the world to see. That's only an assumption, but it could very well be true. She probably wanted to be forgotten after her death. Whatever she intended, she's a person who deserves to be remembered, unlike today's celebrities who cling to fame.

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