I discovered Vivian Maier through the documentary Finding Vivian Maier I saw with Sue at The Orpheum and was immediately captivated by her remarkable portraits and street scenes. Working largely in obscurity as a nanny, she was extraordinarily prolific, creating an immense visual record of everyday life—fleeting expressions, chance encounters and small human dramas that most people would have walked past without noticing. It is astonishing that so much of her work, including many undeveloped rolls of film, was discovered only later, revealing a great photographer who had remained almost completely unknown during her lifetime.
A large part of my own enjoyment of photography comes afterwards, when I edit, organise and carefully curate the images I have taken. Maier’s relationship with photography seems to have been very different. She did not need an audience or even a finished print to validate what she was doing; for her, the deepest joy appears to have been in getting out into the world, observing it intently and taking photographs. I find that wonderfully pure and inspiring—the act of seeing and capturing the moment was apparently reward enough.
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