Tangents
The Allure <i>of Anonymity </i>
A self-portrait of Vivian Maier
Vivian Maier was born in New York in 1926. She moved to Chicago in 1956 where she spent almost four decades working as a nanny, taking care of children of several wealthy families. An intensely private person, she never married and had few friends. When she grew old in poverty, the children she had cared for in her youth bought an apartment for her to live in. She died in virtual anonymity in 2009. She also left behind several hundred thousand black and white photographs that she took for herself and, apparently, never showed to anyone. She took these photographs on her off days when she roamed the streets with her camera. In 2007, John Maloof, a real estate agent in Chicago, was researching the history of his neighbourhood when he bought a box of negatives from a local auction sale. The auction house had acquired these from a storage locker company, which had sold them when the owner had been unable to pay the fees for renting the storage. Maloof scanned the negatives hoping to find documentary information on his neighbourhood, but instead found himself looking at photographs with artistic merit. Searching for similar negatives, he collected over 100,000, many from people who had bought them from the auction house. He eventually figured out that it was the work of Vivian Maier. She had died just a few days before this identification. Posting the photographs on the Internet, Maloof found himself flooded with interest from viewers worldwide. Vivian Maier's story now took on a life of its own with Maloof becoming its spokesperson. Exhibitions took place in several countries, a book called “Vivian Maier Street Photographer” was published, and a movie titled “Finding Vivian Maier” was made. I have followed the Maier story since it surfaced and recently got a copy of the book. Most of her subjects are working people who appear heroic in some photographs (e.g., a labourer during a cigarette break) and vulnerably human in others (e.g., a dozing newspaper vendor.) The children in her photographs wear decidedly adult expressions. More than their artistic value, the photographs paint a social picture of a crucial time of transition in America. But for me, her wit shines through in her many self-portraits. Looking at the photographs raised many questions in my mind. I found myself constantly thinking of her life story as I turned the pages. Is her popularity due more to her sad story than its artistic merit? Why had she kept her work to herself? Was she seduced by the allure of anonymity? Or was she a poor salesperson? Another question made me uncomfortable. Maier never gave permission for the widespread dissemination of her work. If she really intended for her work to be private, are we violating her will? Closer to home, aren't there others like her right here in Bangladesh? I recall a photographer from my childhood - a friend of my father - who created elegant, memorable portraits. I hope to write about him in the future.
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