Technique and Originality: Street Photography and More from Photographer Vivian Maier

The Secret and Creative Life of Vivian Maier

Maier was an intense collector of mementos and newspapers, but her greatest passion was a massive, private collection of photography that she never shared with the public through shows or publishing. Her work—which includes portraits of strangers, self-portraits, and city life—remained hidden until 2007. When she fell behind on rent for a storage unit, a real estate agent and amateur historian named John Maloof purchased the contents at an auction.

Techniques

Key points – As seen above in these two circular images, Maier made exceptional use of mirrors, windows and reflective surfaces, shadows, and often discrete composition/ At other times she was not shy and got incredible portraits with strong eye contact or candids capturing some incredible moments in the lives of people across the U.S.

More than Street

She wasn’t just a street photographer, she was a creative documentarian with an oeuvre of long-term projects including strikingly creative selfies and incredibly penetrating portraits.

She bent the trope of street photography reaching past street scenes and candid photography, reaching into portraits and celebrity photography and cityscapes. Maier even took a trip around the world when she was older and visited a large number of countries that allowed her to take some pretty cool travel photos.

Vivian did not just shoot street so perhaps the label of her as “street photographer” is a little narrow. She shot a little bit of everything and even traveled the world!

Cityscapes

Maier shot street photos with a wide perspective to capture the cityscape views of interesting areas of the cities she lived in and visited.

Travel

She took an around the world trip later in life which allowed her to document some incredible people and scenes abroad such as Asia and Hong Kong. She traveled to the Middle East and Africa, Europe and the Americas (North and South).
There is little doubt she asked the man with oars to pause so she could capture the interesting framing of the wood.

Selfies – Where Vivian Shines

Let’s look at a couple with some variance. Though there are many nuances of her self-portraits, we can identify all of the traits via two shots.

The characteristic of the mirror and reflection and another common perspective looking down at her shadow. The shadow images are very interesting. More are available if you click the links at the bottom of the article.

Gallery – Portraits and Candids

Here are some amazing photos. Do you recognize the celebrity in the images?

Gallery – Self-Portraits by Vivian Maier

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If you are interested in more photographer profiles we will be adding them throughout the next months. We also have a feature on Inge Morath from Magnum Photos.

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