You know your world better than anyone else, so show it to us! It’s a subject that you are uniquely suited to. That sounds a bit drab, but it’s actually anything but.ĭocumenting your world gives an incredible look at the life and times of real people, right now. Vivian’s work is best described as street photography, a style of shooting that documents people in candid situations, in public places. Who is Vivian Maier? A nanny? A photographer? A traveler? Time will tell, as the historian goes forward, documenting her story in film.īut for now, we have the opportunity to study her work, and try to figure out what she might have taught us. In fact, he soon realizes that he has uncovered a truly masterful photographer, completely unknown to the world. He quickly discovers, however, that the images are far beyond ordinary. A historian purchases a box of negatives at an auction, not knowing much about photography. Established in part by the Elizabeth Morse Charitable Trust and the Elizabeth Morse Genius Charitable Trust, the Exhibition Innovation Fund has provided funding for Vivian Maier: In Color.It’s the biggest mystery to hit the photography world in years. Processing of the Vivian Maier collection is generously supported by the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation. Read Frances’s Chicago History magazine article, “ Looking Again,” in which she talks about art collecting and caretaking with Jeffrey Goldstein. She holds a master of arts from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and has collaborated on exhibitions at the Art Institute of Chicago, Northwestern University’s Block Museum of Art in Evanston, Illinois, and the Morgan Library & Museum in New York, among others. © The Estate of Vivian Maier | View the collectionįrances Dorenbaum is a curator and art historian from Toronto who specializes in the history of photography.

Vivian Maier: In Color is a multimedia exhibition featuring 65 color images made during her time as a suburban Chicago nanny from the 1950s to 1970s, most of which have never been on display, as well as film clips, quotations, and sound bites. There is no proof that she ever made a concerted effort to show her work to any dealers or other artists―gifting us the mystery of an elusive woman behind the camera. She left behind hundreds of prints, 100,000 negatives, and about a thousand rolls of undeveloped film, which were discovered when a collector purchased the contents of her storage lockers. Maier died before her life’s work was shared with the world. A discarded newspaper, a child resting her face in the sunlight of a ferry window, a scowling woman licking an ice cream cone outside a department store window―Maier’s photographs on the streets of Chicago and its suburbs encourage viewers to look beyond the ordinary. Vivian Maier took everyday moments and transformed them into something extraordinary.

Vivian maier photography