Each link in the chain of the Vivian Maier story branches to reveal a much more complex and nuanced saga. He discovered the woman known today as the mysterious nanny street photographer.īut rarely is a story as simple as the filtered- down version that results from multiple retellings. He googled her name and found that she had died a few days earlier. The story of the Vivian Maier phenomenon has been told so many times that it can now be reduced to a few short phrases:Ī young man named John Maloof bought a box of her negatives. Only then can we begin to see Vivian Maier, woman and photographer, and begin to enter her world. To get the right picture, look at her squarely, as she would look at you: on her own terms, from her own evidence of who she was and what she did. Call her a mystery or an enigma, as if no one ever knew her, or ever could. Call her Vivian, as if you know her well. Call her just a Chicagoan or just a Frenchwoman, instead of a born Manhattanite and self- styled European. Call her a nanny, as if that was her identity, instead of a photographer. There are many ways to get the wrong picture about Vivian Maier. The following is an excerpt from Vivian Maier: A Photographer’s Life and Afterlife, which was published last month.

(Image from the Ron Slattery negative collection.)

John maloof vivian maier