# Finding Vivian Maier



## Bobby Ironsights (Apr 3, 2022)

I recently rewatched the documentary "Finding Vivian Maier", it's available for free on my public library's website Kanopy, well, the website my library subscribes to. 

Perhaps your library subscribes to it as well, I highly recommend checking it out.


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## Nikon photographer (Apr 4, 2022)

It's also on Amazon Prime, I watched it when it was first available, it's a very good and informative documentary,well worth a watch.


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## AlanKlein (Apr 4, 2022)

I just checked my Amazon prime.  It's not free. YOu have to buy it or pay for another streaming service.


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## mrca (Apr 4, 2022)

I think of her and that video when I am doing street with a yashica 124 mat g and 3200 film.  So light, portable and inexpensive for a mf camera.   Fixed 50 mm equiv lens perfect for street.  35 mm with a 50 or 35 and finer grain hp5 film over shoulder.  Another 35 mm camera in the bag with color portra and an 85.  All my fav films in fav sizes and it is so light.


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## Nikon photographer (Apr 4, 2022)

AlanKlein said:


> I just checked my Amazon prime.  It's not free. YOu have to buy it or pay for another streaming service.


I hate when Amazon do that, when I watched it, it was free on Amazon Prime


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## AlanKlein (Apr 4, 2022)

Nikon photographer said:


> I hate when Amazon do that, when I watched it, it was free on Amazon Prime


Yeah.  They run it free for a while and then charge for it.


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## MitchP (Apr 4, 2022)

Yes, great documentary. She's one of my favorite photographers, although I think the guy who owns the rights may have printed things she wouldn't have. 

Every time I'm in the middle of nowhere with a camera thinking I must be crazy, I remember Vivian Maier. She did it for decades, all alone, no audience or feedback, and definitely a little crazy


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## AlanKlein (Apr 4, 2022)

MitchP said:


> Yes, great documentary. She's one of my favorite photographers, although I think the guy who owns the rights may have printed things she wouldn't have.
> 
> Every time I'm in the middle of nowhere with a camera thinking I must be crazy, I remember Vivian Maier. She did it for decades, all alone, no audience or feedback, and definitely a little crazy


Well she didn't print anything, at least publicly.  In any case, her work is published and the public has gotten to enjoy it.  It's too bad it wasn't published while she was alive.  I think she would have been proud of herself.


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## cgw (Apr 4, 2022)

If you can track it down, this Winogrand doc is killer:


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## weepete (Apr 4, 2022)

I saw the Vivian Maier documentry a few years ago, it was a very interesting watch!


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## cgw (Apr 5, 2022)

It gets complicated:









						Vivian Maier timeline: Breaking down the years-long battle over the photographer-nanny’s work
					

Timeline to understanding the Vivian Maier story: Her life and death, the discovery of her photos, and the subsequent battles over them.




					www.chicagotribune.com


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## RacePhoto (Apr 5, 2022)

Oh yeah, now I remember. I did watch the documentary. I think my Brother has the DVD.

Sure thing, people who didn't know they were related and never had contact get approached by an ambulance chaser and he starts to promise them money for being heirs. I've read another much longer account of the legal claims, which  are just a money grab. Good to see that someone might say, direct descendants only and stop this farce.

On the positive, she used the Rollie in earlier times, which is an advantage, the waist level viewfinder is really not as obtrusive as holding up some big camera to your face. I admire her as someone who just went to see what she could see.

I wonder what the later photos are like, as it says she started in a new direction, other than people on the street?


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## Warhorse (Apr 5, 2022)

cgw said:


> If you can track it down, this Winogrand doc is killer:


Thanks! Just rented this from Amazon for $3.99, and will watch later.


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## mrca (Apr 5, 2022)

Not only is a tlr like the rollei or yashica I use not as noticable shot from the waist, because there is no mirror slap, it is nearly silent.   Folks expect a camera to be shot in the direction you are facing from eye level.   Even looking down or not looking into the waist level view finder or directly at the subject allows totall y candid shots to be taken.   Not what I do always, but the possibility is there.  Also with no hunking lens sticking out  telling it is aimed in that direction, folks don't have a clue about the lenses on this camera.  It is also feather light and able to be carried all day  effortlessly.  For street, you get to shoot quickly "from the hip" and using zone focus don't have to even focus.


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## cgw (Apr 5, 2022)

Flip-up LCD screens allow the same disappearing act, though I rarely see them used that way on the street. The little Ricoh GR II and III have an adjustable "snap focus" feature enabled by a full shutter press. Great for street shooting.


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## mrca (Apr 5, 2022)

cgw said:


> Flip-up LCD screens allow the same disappearing act, though I rarely see them used that way on the street. The little Ricoh GR II and III have an adjustable "snap focus" feature enabled by a full shutter press. Great for street shooting.


Yes and like the waist level finder, make it easy to get the camera right down on the ground without rolling in the dirt.   But,  that lens sticking out in front is recognized by everyone along with a finger on the shutter on top of the camera.  The shutter on my tlr is in the lower r corner of the "box" and folks don't know it's there.  Then only sound is the shutter with no mirror so quiet I can't tell if it fired.


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## cgw (Apr 5, 2022)

mrca said:


> Yes and like the waist level finder, make it easy to get the camera right down on the ground without rolling in the dirt.   But,  that lens sticking out in front is recognized by everyone along with a finger on the shutter on top of the camera.  The shutter on my tlr is in the lower r corner of the "box" and folks don't know it's there.  Then only sound is the shutter with no mirror so quiet I can't tell if it fired.


The Fuji MILCs like the X-T1-4 series are very small along with their "Fujicron" f/2 primes. I find them to be very inconspicuous with both hands wrapped around them. No noise from their electronic shutters, either. When we're out on photo walks in Toronto, my friends' old Rolleis attract steady attention from pesky "Is that an old film camera?" gawkers.


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## mrca (Apr 5, 2022)

cgw said:


> The Fuji MILCs like the X-T1-4 series are very small along with their "Fujicron" f/2 primes. I find them to be very inconspicuous with both hands wrapped around them. No noise from their electronic shutters, either. When we're out on photo walks in Toronto, my friends' old Rolleis attract steady attention from pesky "Is that an old film camera?" gawkers.


My nikno fm2ns and pentax me are as small.   Yes, the Yashica never fails to get at least 3 or folks asking about it.  Great conversation starter and for someone who is always marketing, nothing like having a potential client approach me allowiing me to  segway  seamlessly into my elevator speech.  the light weight of the yashica medium format camera is the most important attribute, not sneaking photos.  My Mamiya RB67 is huge, weighs an ton and isn't lives in the backpack til I am ready to shoot.  But the 6x6 Yashica delivers that huge negative with portability, light weight and since most of my street is with a 50 mm, is gives me a similar, although square look which is especially wonderful for some shots.  Of course my d850 allows me to cycle between  1:1, 3:2, 4:5 both in the view finder and in what is saved plus the flip lcd.


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## Bobby Ironsights (Apr 5, 2022)

AlanKlein said:


> Yeah.  They run it free for a while and then charge for it.


I have Prime video and it's free for me right now, maybe just because I'm in Canada?


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## Bobby Ironsights (Apr 5, 2022)

cgw said:


> If you can track it down, this Winogrand doc is killer:


This 
Garry Winogrand​documentary is free on Kanopy too, and a whole bunch of other photography documentaries along with it. I like my library more and more.


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## Robshoots (Apr 5, 2022)

AlanKlein said:


> Well she didn't print anything, at least publicly.  In any case, her work is published and the public has gotten to enjoy it.  It's too bad it wasn't published while she was alive.  I think she would have been proud of herself.


Do you ever wonder if she had made her photos public (not so easy to do back then) whether she would have the reputation she has now?


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## AlanKlein (Apr 5, 2022)

mrca said:


> Not only is a tlr like the rollei or yashica I use not as noticable shot from the waist, because there is no mirror slap, it is nearly silent.   Folks expect a camera to be shot in the direction you are facing from eye level.   Even looking down or not looking into the waist level view finder or directly at the subject allows totall y candid shots to be taken.   Not what I do always, but the possibility is there.  Also with no hunking lens sticking out  telling it is aimed in that direction, folks don't have a clue about the lenses on this camera.  It is also feather light and able to be carried all day  effortlessly.  For street, you get to shoot quickly "from the hip" and using zone focus don't have to even focus.


I've noticed that waist-level shots seem more intimate.


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## Bobby Ironsights (Apr 5, 2022)

Robshoots said:


> Do you ever wonder if she had made her photos public (not so easy to do back then) whether she would have the reputation she has now?


I do think the legend of her, has probably helped her work more than the mentally ill reality of her would have. Also I think that the historian, Maloof, deserves more credit than he gets for his skillful curating and marketing of her works. Well, he might not get much credit, but he does get the money, I'm sure that's a substantial comfort to him.


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## cgw (Apr 6, 2022)

Robshoots said:


> Do you ever wonder if she had made her photos public (not so easy to do back then) whether she would have the reputation she has now?


Interesting but difficult to answer. I've always wondered what led her to shoot the way she did, what she saw and how that influenced her. I see Robert Frank in some of her 50s-60s shots but it's sometimes hard to date them. "The Americans" influence spread slowly after its first printing in France in 1958. Nothing especially deep or telling is known about Maier's inner world apart from what she allowed.

Agree there wasn't much of an appetite for street photography when she was most active. Getting noticed as a woman photographer wasn't easy. In 1957, Eve Arnold was the first woman to join Magnum. Maier was marginalized by then current tastes and, face it, sexism. Doubtful many--if any--galleries would have taken her in. Suspect she might then have become a forgettable curiosity--sadly.


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## Nikon photographer (Apr 6, 2022)

Bobby Ironsights said:


> I have Prime video and it's free for me right now, maybe just because I'm in Canada?


Strategy I was looking through Amazon Prime this afternoon, there seems to be two versions of this documentary listed, both look the same to me, but one you have to pay for, while the other one is free to Prime members, very strange....


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## Soocom1 (Apr 6, 2022)

I dont remember exactly when I watched it, but man that was a good show. 

Interesting lady for sure.


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## Bobby Ironsights (Apr 6, 2022)

AlanKlein said:


> I've noticed that waist-level shots seem more intimate.


A childs eye view.


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## cgw (Apr 7, 2022)

Bobby Ironsights said:


> A childs eye view.


Navel-gazing...


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## Robshoots (Apr 8, 2022)

Bobby Ironsights said:


> I do think the legend of her, has probably helped her work more than the mentally ill reality of her would have. Also I think that the historian, Maloof, deserves more credit than he gets for his skillful curating and marketing of her works. Well, he might not get much credit, but he does get the money, I'm sure that's a substantial comfort to him.


Mentally ill seems a bit harsh.  I wouldn't characterize her like that.


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## Robshoots (Apr 8, 2022)

After the discussion about Vivian Maier, I ran across this article about women photographers and found it quite interesting.  I learned some new names.
Female Photographers - Brief History of Women with a Camera


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## Bobby Ironsights (Apr 10, 2022)

Robshoots said:


> Mentally ill seems a bit harsh.  I wouldn't characterize her like that.


I think we watched different documentaries. In the one I watched, people who knew her well and lived with her described her as seriously mentally ill, and the behaviors she engaged in interfered with her life and the lives of those around her and got significantly worse as she aged.

 That doesn't make her a _bad_ person or take away from her value as an artist, but...


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## cgw (Apr 12, 2022)

Bobby Ironsights said:


> I think we watched different documentaries. In the one I watched, people who knew her well and lived with her described her as seriously mentally ill, and the behaviors she engaged in interfered with her life and the lives of those around her and got significantly worse as she aged.
> 
> That doesn't make her a _bad_ person or take away from her value as an artist, but...


But_ what_, exactly? Unless you or those who knew her were/are qualified medical practitioners, I'd reserve judgement on Maier. Not sure a DSM-V label matters much in any evaluation of her photos.


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