Vivian Maier was an American street photographer born in 1926. Maier worked as a nanny for about forty years around Chicago’s North Shore, pursuing photography during her spare time. During her lifetime, she took over 100,000 photos on 35 mm film, however many of them were never printed or seen by the public until after her death in 2009. Maier took many self portraits (selfies) using mirrors and window reflections. The painting by Eduardo Kobra (below) provides a colorful rendition of one of her most iconic black and white self portraits.
The photograph (above) was provided by Matthew T. Rader who explained: “One day while I was just casually walking along sidewalk in Chicago. I looked to my right and was immediately blown away by the scale, beauty, and creativity of this Vivian Maier mural. I knew who she was immediately. I have her book. I’ve always found her work to be so inspiring. I had to run across the street to get the full image in frame. I love this image because I love how creative the mural is of this incredibly creative woman.”
“The legend of street photographer Vivian Maier has grown immeasurably since her death in April 2009.”
from an MTTW news story.
Finding Vivian Maier
The movie trailer (“promo”) produced by IFC Films said: “Now considered one of the 20th century’s greatest street photographers, Vivian Maier was a mysterious nanny who secretly took over 100,000 photographs that went unseen during her lifetime. Since buying her work by chance at auction, amateur historian John Maloof has crusaded to put this prolific photographer in the history books. Maier’s strange and riveting life and art are revealed through never-before-seen photographs, films, and interviews with dozens who thought they knew her. “