“Full many a flower is
born to blush unseen and spread its fragrance on the desert air,” wrote the
poet Gray. If a young man named John Maloof had not discovered the wealth of
photographs taken by Vivian Maier, the world would have never known of the
street photographer who called herself ‘a sort of spy.’
Vivian was born in France on February 1st,
1926. She was of mixed descent with a French mother and an Austrian father, who
abandoned his family when she was a child. A portrait photographer named Jeanne
Bertrand befriended her mother. Perhaps Vivian’s interest in photography was
nurtured by this lady.
In her youth, Vivian shuttled between France and USA
until in 1951, she settled down in New York. She was an intensely private
person, eccentric but intelligent, and cared nothing for what people thought
about her. Shabbily dressed in a long loose dress with a baggy woollen
overcoat, solid boots and floppy hat, she never stepped into the street without
her camera dangling from her neck. Her first camera was a simple box camera.
Objects and people on the streets fascinated her.
Vivian came to New York as nanny to a family who sailed
to USA from Southampton. She continued to work for the family between 1951
and1956, and could now afford to buy a more sophisticated Leica IIIc, with
which she could take coloured photographs. From photographing objects and
landmarks, she now turned to capturing people in her films. She had a great
affinity for the poor, their life styles, and their struggles. Whatever caught
her eye she photographed and documented. She also developed an inexplicable
urge to hoard things. Newspapers, garbage cans, discarded items on the roadside
were collected and stored in boxes.
In 1957, Vivian moved to Chicago where she again sought
employment as a nanny to three children. They were here closest family. She was
like a second mother to the children, fond of them but also very strict. When
she took them outdoors, she was also busy photographing whatever caught her
fancy. She had a small room to herself which doubled as a dark room to develop
her pictures. She also had access to the attic in which she hoarded her
collection of newspapers, clippings, film rolls and other knick knacks. The
attic was always locked permitting no entry to the children.
During her tenure as a nanny, she would make short trips
to other parts of the country, Canada, South America, and some cities in
Europe. She always travelled alone and indulged freely in her hobby of
photography.
By the early ‘70s the children had all grown up and
needed no nanny. She moved from family to family in Chicago and nannied in this
city for a total of seventeen years. But she could no more develop her rolls of
film. They had to be put in boxes with all the other junk she had accumulated.
In 1980, she stopped photographing, and her camera too went into storage.
Vivian managed to live in a tiny studio apartment which
was paid for by one of the families for whom she had worked. But when she could
not pay the rent to the storage companies, one of her storage bins was
auctioned without her knowledge, to cover the rent.
In 2007, John Maloof a young man was writing a book about
Chicago. He visited the local auction to see if he could get photographs or
material for his book. Paying $400/- he bought one of her boxes which contained
hundreds of negatives depicting scenes from Chicago. He became obsessed with
Vivian’s work and started buying back stuff from other buyers who had attended
the auction. He also acquired items from her other two boxes.
Within a year, John had salvaged about 90% of her work.
There were 100000 to 150000 negatives, 3000 prints, hundreds of rolls of film
and audiotapes. She had methodically documented many of the photographs. Vivian
Maier became John Maloof’s magnificent obsession.
In 2008, Vivian skidded on ice and injured her head. She
never recovered and died in a nursing home on April 21st, 2009.
The first story about Vivian was published in 2009. Her
life and works not only became Maloof’s passion but also contributed to his
livelihood. The first exhibition of her work was in 2010. These were scans of
all her negatives. Since then this exhibition has travelled all over USA, from
Chicago to Los Angeles to New York. It has been exhibited in many European
countries as well. So well archived, it has rekindled an interest in street
photography and in the life and work of an extremely private woman who was a
law unto herself.
