Vivian Maier

×

Expand

Vivian Maier, “Self-Portrait, New York,” 1954 (© Estate of Vivian Maier, courtesy of Maloof Collection and Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York)

Vivian Maier’s life story seems made for Hollywood. A nanny takes some 100,000 photos of the streets of Chicago and New York City, mostly from the 1950s to the 1970s, but never shows them to anyone. 

Then in 2007, a Chicago collector, John Maloof, buys a box of her negatives for $400, sight unseen, at an auction and eventually publishes a few on Flickr. Soon thousands of people are viewing her images online. 

Sadly, Maier dies in 2009, at age 83, weeks before Maloof tracks her down. But her work continues to gain acclaim. It’s exhibited around the world, boosted by an intriguing documentary film, Finding Vivian Maier, released in 2013 after Maloof teams up with producer Charlie Siskel.

×

Expand

Vivian Maier, “May 16, 1957” (© Estate of Vivian Maier, courtesy of Maloof Collection and Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York)

Now, an exhibition of some of those works, Vivian Maier: In Her Own Hands, is on view until May 24 at the Glenbow Museum in Calgary. One of four Maier exhibitions currently showing worldwide, it is curated by Anne Morin, the director of diChroma Photography, a Madrid-based independent producer of cultural exhibitions.

The 100-odd works at the Glenbow – whether portraits, street scenes, formalist images or colour photographs – were printed from scans of Maier’s negatives, letting visitors speculate how she might have cropped and printed her images if she were still alive.

×

Expand

Vivian Maier, “Chicago,” circa 1960 (© Estate of Vivian Maier, courtesy of Maloof Collection and Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York)

Perhaps the most iconic is a self-portrait that shows Maier reflected in a window as she stands in the street with a large Rolleiflex camera on her chest. The image creates a curious confrontation with viewers. The artist’s face is expressionless, perhaps a bit defiant, but the overall effect suggests a confident, independent woman. 

There’s a lovely ambiguity and mystery. Is the artist admiring herself or has something in the window captured her attention? Here, as in almost all her photographs, Maier leans to the voyeuristic and evokes potential narratives. Perhaps this is true of all street photography.

×

Expand

Vivian Maier, “1963, Chicago” (© Estate of Vivian Maier, Courtesy of Maloof Collection and Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York)

Watching Maier’s Super 8 films is like taking a walk with her. You can glimpse how she sees and thinks about the streets and the people who inhabit them. Funny, personal and perceptive, they are forerunners to the obsessive documentation of everyday life so common today. 

The bulky camera present in many of Maier’s self-portraits helps us remember that mid-century street photographers didn’t have the luxury of today’s digital editing and point-and-shoot cameras. The self-portraits fall into two camps – her reflection in shop windows or mirrors, which can be playful, and haunting images of her shadow or faceless body. 

She took thousands of self-portraits during her lifetime. Was this an outsider’s attempt to understand her identity in a world where she didn’t fit in? Unlike social media sites now flooded with selfies, Maier never shared her photos, and little is known about her life.   

Her images capture what now seems like simpler times. Or are we simply looking back with nostalgia and naïve enchantment? Regardless, this exhibition is a fascinating reminder of how much the world has changed.  ■ 

Vivian Maier: In Her Own Hand is on view at the Glenbow Museum in Calgary from Feb. 8 to May 24, 2020.

PS: Worried you missed something? See previous Galleries West  stories here or sign up for our free biweekly newsletter.