Vivian Maier by Vivian Maier

Vivian Maier

Street Photographer

Vivian Maier, John Maloof

powerHouse Books · Print & ebook · November 16, 2011

The original, instant classic which set the world afire.

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Who it’s for
Maier’s street photographs reward a lingering look, finding humor, beauty, and rawness in everyday city life.
Themes
Street photography, City life, Unseen artistic work
Genres
Street Photography, Photographer Monographs, History of Photography

About this book

The original, instant classic which set the world afire. The first book to introduce the phenomenon that is the life story and work of Vivian Maier. A good street photographer must be possessed of many talents: an eye for detail, light, and composition; impeccable timing; a populist or humanitarian outlook; and a tireless ability to constantly shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot and never miss a moment.

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It is hard enough to find these qualities in trained photographers with the benefit of schooling and mentors and a community of fellow artists and aficionados supporting and rewarding their efforts. It is incredibly rare to find it in someone with no formal training and no network of peers. Yet Vivian Maier is all of these things, a professional nanny, who from the 1950s until the 1990s took over 100,000 photographs worldwide-from France to New York City to Chicago and dozens of other countries-and yet showed the results to no one. The photos are amazing both for the breadth of the work and for the high quality of the humorous, moving, beautiful, and raw images of all facets of city life in America's post-war golden age. It wasn't until local historian John Maloof purchased a box of Maier's negatives from a Chicago auction house and began collecting and championing her marvelous work just a few years ago that any of it saw the light of day. Presented here for the first time in print, Vivian Maier: Street Photographer collects the best of her incredible, unseen body of work. Please note that all blank pages in the book were chosen as part of the design by the publisher.

City Life, Closely Seen

Maier’s street photographs reward a lingering look, finding humor, beauty, and rawness in everyday city life.

Come here for

  • Witty, moving images of postwar American city life
  • A photographer’s eye for detail, light, and timing

Expect

  • A broad body of work made across decades and places
  • Photographs presented without a need for formal art-world credentials

Where it sits

Photographer Monographs78%
Street Photography76%
History of Photography21%

Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.

Publisher categories

  • Folk & Outsider Art
  • Photographer Monographs
  • Street Photography
Authors
Vivian Maier, John Maloof
Publisher
powerHouse Books
Published
November 16, 2011
Format
Print & ebook
Theme
Street photography · City life · Unseen artistic work
Reading lane
Folk & Outsider Art