Photo2Q4.1: Finding Vivian Maier

Initially, I thought that her work was amazing. I enjoy street photography. I haven't done much in a while, but I enjoyed the candid intimacy and genuineness of capturing a moment that isn't necessarily posed. There's such a human aspect to it that you can't get if people are aware of being captured in a photo. I began to notice a lot of what critics were saying of her work too. Her use of a Rolleiflex camera was incredibly beneficial, because people weren't looking into the camera. They were looking toward Vivian, and the fact that people were looking "above" the camera (but not necessarily too high to be looking "up") only worked to give subjects a sense of confidence. Plus, the photos weren't just limited to a subject being framed in a single third or being a portrait. Vivian had diversity. The square format was especially beneficial in keeping the subjects really tight in the frame. If her photos were an album, it'd be 21 minutes long. Doesn't sound long–albums are usually 40+ minutes. But in those albums, there's a lot of filler. With Vivian, it's all killer–no filler. The images below appealed to me the most.

As I gained knowledge on the people she cared for, the people she met, the societal rules she "broke"... I still had respect for her work. And personally, I tend to separate art from the artist when the art appeals to me. For example, I enjoy some of XXXtentacion's work. His music truly was genre-blending and unique, and his death was unfortunate. But I acknowledge that his history was awful. He certainly did not deserve to have the fame, money, and power that he had, but as his life was just turning around, making efforts to change his image, he was murdered. With Vivian, there wasn't an opportunity for her to change her life. It's very likely she had some kind of mental illness. Perhaps it was borderline personality disorder, where victims have severe instability in emotion and self-concept, alongside impulsive and self-destructive behavior. Or perhaps it was some unique form of schizophrenia and dementia. Or maybe she truly was just unique in her own way of thinking. Obviously, Vivian's history doesn't compare to the crimes X is criticized for posthumously, but the same idea applies. If the art is so great in it's magnitude and impact to society or to an individual, it's easy to forget or to put all of the negativity in the subconscious. The images I selected display such greatness.

My volume of work usually consists of upwards of 500-1000 images per month, with just 100-200 of them seeing daylight due to my selectivity in them, and just 10-50 of them being works that I'd legitimately publish. For some of them, I take them because it's of friends that enjoy having their photos taken. For others, it's part of my tasks in Yearbook. However, for the few that I take out of joy, I find that posting them on social media is preferable. In recent months that joy has conflicted with the difficulties of transitioning to college, but otherwise I take photos because they're pieces of art. You can share them with the world. For Vivian, I see no purpose in taking photos just to intentionally hide them away.

I can understand selectivity. I can understand having financial problems in developing film or getting your name out there. But for Vivian, she didn't have either of these; I truly don't understand why she did not share her work. Whether it'd be to the subjects themselves, in a gallery, in a book, to be sold to the public; her thousands of images are truly mind-boggling. I can't resist the urge to at least share it with someone. But Vivian shared it with nobody. Even if there were no IG or Tumblr or social media platform to share, I'd find a way, especially in a time where photography wouldn't be a digitally saturated market (like it is today).

One's mental health is absolutely influential to the type of work you'll produce, the style, the motivations–everything. You can still produce art (though there are some particular mental disorders that limit this capability, but Vivian's art clearly didn't suffer). Her questionable childhood, hoarding, and possible history of abuse definitely played a role in her photography. In class, Mrs. Takemoto was talking about a particular individual who had CCTV cameras that captured everything in a store. When asked why, it was because of a traumatic event, and that he didn't want to "lose the memory of something happening again" (or something of the sort). I believe Vivian had a similar motivation to her artwork, but perhaps it was a little darker. Perhaps, due to an estranged childhood, she wanted to expose the true nature of humanity. Sometimes, it'd be the innocence of childhood; something Maier's may have yearned for. Sometimes, it'd be homelessness. Her motivations are confusing, especially since all we have from her is her art–no specific accounts from her about her life story.

Personally, I am influenced by other artists. Students in this school like Aaron Quillopo or Janina Abdelehad take some remarkable portraits. I am influenced by styles all across Instagram, particularly those of a vintage manner. I'm inspired by vaporwave, street, geometric, east-Asian architecture. I'm sure the people I'm inspired by are similarly motivated by other artists as well. However, my motivations are out of the desire to capture moments that might not be recreated the same way again. They lie in the desire to capture everlasting moments.

I think that her work is experiencing the remarkable success it's having now due to multiple factors. Firstly, she had talent. Whether it'd be in framing, exposure, exploration, finding moments; she was capable of all the tangibles. In addition, I think that with visual art, it's harder to appreciate it if they're extremely recent. We've seen a dramatic change toward flat, "modern" design. It's in the operating systems of our phones, the designs of the most popular businesses and companies of products/services we use; the style harshly contrasts skeuomorphism, which is what the designs of yesteryears had. I think that her popularity is at a high not only because of her artistic and quantifiable prowess, but also because skeuomorphism in the photographic avenue is making a resurgence, the same way vintage/film photographs are making a resurgence. Thus, both cognitive and environmental influences are playing a part in making her photographs seem admirable.

After viewing the documentary, I'd definitely like to attempt to be more bold in street photography; to not be afraid. In her photography, she's always gotten admirably close to her subjects. She was not afraid at all to take pictures of people, no matter how they felt about their photos being taken. Looking back at the photos I've taken thus far, I dislike my photos of people on the street as they walk away because their faces reveal a lot about who they are. Instead, I think it'd be desirable to make the change toward being bolder and braver in street photography.