Vivian Maier Portraits

Vivian Maier's life story is a remarkable and fascinating riddle.
She immigrated to the U.S. from France in the early 30's.
She learned English by going to theaters. She wore a men's jacket, men's shoes and a large hat most of the time. She had strong opinions about movies and politics. She was constantly taking pictures (about 100,000 in total), which she didn't show anyone.

She photographed mainly people and cityscapes most often in Chicago, although she traveled and photographed worldwide.
Her photographs remained unknown and mostly undeveloped until they were discovered by a local historian, John Maloof, in 2007. Following Maier's death her work began to receive critical acclaim. Since 2009 her photographs have appeared in newspapers, magazines and exhibitions all over the world.

Out of the 7 portfolios that are now available on the website dedicated to Vivian Maier's work, I found her self portraits to be exceptionally sensational.








There is something highly captivating in her photographes. She seem like such a strong woman and you can sense her confidence and complexity in the way she decided to capture herself.

If you interested in knowing more about the way Vivian Maier's photographs were discovered, I urge you to watch this short video that try to unfold some of the mystery around her and also tell the story of John Maloof who, in 2007, bought in an auction, a box filled with negatives, that turned out to be a treasure.


March 2015 update:
So great to see more and more interest in Vivian Maier's art.
Finding Vivian Maier - an American documentary film made by John Maloof in 2013, was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature this year.
Another great resource that was brought recently to my attention is the Vivian Maier page on Artsy. It has a great collection of over 80 images (some of them available to purchase as prints), exclusive articles, and up-to-date shows info (Thanks Anthony).