Personal Background: Vivian Maier was born February 1, 1926 and died April 21, 2009. She was an American, born in New York City. She spent most of her youth in France, but came back when she was an adult. She made a living as a nanny for families. Around the 1970s, Vivian was a nanny for the Gensburg family. The Gensburg children were the subjects of some of her photos. This was around the time she started taking photos. Her First camera was a Kodak Brownie camera. She then upgraded to a Rolleiflex twin-lens reflex camera. The amazing thing about Vivian is that she didn't become known for her photography until she was dead!
Style: Vivian Maier takes street photography and candid photography. Her subjects were usually children, the poor, marginalized, elderly. She took photos of these people when they were not aware. You can really see the raw emotions in their faces. Vivian dabbled in self-portraits. There are many photos of her that she would take in a reflective surface. She worked with mostly black and white documentary style until the 1970s where she took up color and an abstract approach. Her photography style can be described as history of visual culture and urban human landscape.
Philosophy: Vivian Maier never developed her photos. She took them for fun. Vivian was described as a extremely private person and kept her work to herself. She rented two storage lockers that were filled with undeveloped film. Vivian sees the "beauty in all" and "sees things others don't".
Influences: I like her photography because she is very care free with her photos.She would take pictures of everything she saw. Similarly, I take pictures of things I find cute, interesting, beautiful, etc. Just like Vivian, I would take pictures of things and people when they were showing pure emotion. She takes pictures of rustic things and they are very satisfying. I aspire to take photos liker her one day. I love how the pictures tell a story.
Compare and Contrast: The photo titled "Self Portrait" by Vivian Maier is one of the photos I chose to emulate. I had myself as the subject and the photographer. Let me tell you, it was not easy. I don't know how she did it so easily, but it's hard to take a picture of yourself in a mirror without the camera being in it. i am looking the same way as Maier. The differences are the clothing and the angle. I couldn't get my face exactly in the picture like Maier did, but I tried my best.
The photo titled " July 27,1954. New York, Ny" by Vivian is another photo I chose to emulate. I used my mom and step dad as the subjects. It was hard to get the right angle, but I think I did a good job. The differences are the clothing and the area in which the photos were taken. The clothing my subjects are wearing are different in pattern. I had to get down on the floor and angle my self to get the right angle. It was hard and I took about a million photos.
The photo titled "Untitled" by Vivian Maier was the easiest to take. I took this photo in Barton Park. It is not known where she took this picture, but I emulated it the best I could. I really love nature photography and this photo really interested me. Vivian is more known for street photography, so it was surprising to see a forest in her albums. I chose it because I love going out in nature. The differences are the light. The sun isn't shining through the trees in my photos because Michigan has had some gloomy days. I tried to get where the light hit, but it isn't as beautiful as hers.
The photo titled " July 27,1954. New York, Ny" by Vivian is another photo I chose to emulate. I used my mom and step dad as the subjects. It was hard to get the right angle, but I think I did a good job. The differences are the clothing and the area in which the photos were taken. The clothing my subjects are wearing are different in pattern. I had to get down on the floor and angle my self to get the right angle. It was hard and I took about a million photos.
The photo titled "Untitled" by Vivian Maier was the easiest to take. I took this photo in Barton Park. It is not known where she took this picture, but I emulated it the best I could. I really love nature photography and this photo really interested me. Vivian is more known for street photography, so it was surprising to see a forest in her albums. I chose it because I love going out in nature. The differences are the light. The sun isn't shining through the trees in my photos because Michigan has had some gloomy days. I tried to get where the light hit, but it isn't as beautiful as hers.
Personal Artist Statement: Taking these photos were so much fun. I really like Vivian Maier's style of photography. It was very hard to emulate her photos, as the subjects in her photos didn't know they were being photographed. They have raw emotion on their faces. The hardest picture to take was the mirror photo. I had my mom hold the mirror while I held the camera off to the side. I had to look at the viewfinder in the corner of my eye to get the right angle and picture. I wonder if Vivian had the same problems. It was very hard to get the right angles for all of these photos. I wonder if having a Rolliflex camera would have made it easier. It was very interesting to research Vivian and learn about her life. I hope to be a photographer like her one day.
Sources:
Blumberg, Naomi. “Vivian Maier.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 17 Sept. 2014, www.britannica.com/biography/Vivian-Maier.
LensCulture, Vivian Maier |. “Vivian Maier: Street Photographer, Revelation - Interview with Exhibition Curator Anne Morin.” LensCulture, www.lensculture.com/articles/vivian-maier-vivian-maier-street-photographer-revelation.
“About Vivian Maier.” Vivian Maier Photographer, www.vivianmaier.com/about-vivian-maier/
Blumberg, Naomi. “Vivian Maier.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 17 Sept. 2014, www.britannica.com/biography/Vivian-Maier.
LensCulture, Vivian Maier |. “Vivian Maier: Street Photographer, Revelation - Interview with Exhibition Curator Anne Morin.” LensCulture, www.lensculture.com/articles/vivian-maier-vivian-maier-street-photographer-revelation.
“About Vivian Maier.” Vivian Maier Photographer, www.vivianmaier.com/about-vivian-maier/