Finding Vivian Maier
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Finding Vivian Maier

Real estate agent John Maloof explains how a trip to a local auction house, in search for old pictures to use for a history book about his neighborhoo...d, resulted in him bidding and winning a box full of old negatives. John goes through the massive quantity of negatives, describes how impressed he is by the quality of the images, becomes quickly determined they are not reverent to his project and just puts them away. That could have very likely had been the end of the story, if the power of the images had not pushed him to fall in love with photography. John confides that his photo hobby quickly motivated him to set up a darkroom and devote large amounts of time printing. As he learned more about photography, he recognized that those negatives he had bought, then stored, were the work of a real master. In an attempt to confirm his suspicion, he selected about 100 images and put them online with the hope that the feedback would confirm his judgement as to the strength of the images. Show More

Details

Vivian Maier was an enigmatic woman who worked as a nanny in Chicago in the 1950s and 1960s. Unbeknownst to her employers, she had a hidden passion for photography. This documentary, titled 'Finding Vivian Maier', tells the story of how real estate agent John Maloof stumbled upon her work at a local auction house.

Initially, Maloof purchased a box full of old negatives to use for a history book project about his neighborhood. However, upon going through the negatives, he was captivated by the incredible quality of the images. Despite not being relevant to his original project, he couldn't bear to just put them away and forget about them.

Maloof's fascination with Maier's photography led him on a journey to uncover the mystery behind the woman behind the camera. He discovered that Maier had taken hundreds of thousands of photographs, documenting street life in Chicago with a keen eye for capturing candid moments.

Through interviews with those who knew Maier and her own self-portraits, the documentary sheds light on her eccentric and private personality. Maier's incredible talent is showcased through her stunning black-and-white photographs, which display a level of technical skill and artistry that rival some of the greatest photographers of her time.

'Finding Vivian Maier' is a captivating documentary that unravels the story of a hidden artist whose work remained undiscovered until after her death in 2009. The film explores themes of artistry, passion, and the power of photography to preserve the memories and stories of ordinary people.