Photographer Snapshots - Vivian Maier

Vivian Maier, Untitled (VM1956K05925-04-MC), 1956

From the ‘Colour Works’ Archive

Famous for her street photography and self portraits, Vivian Maier’s archive and story has fascinated and inspired me for almost a decade. I’ve been fixated on this image above to this day, and being my favourite photograph, it felt like the right image to start this new series.

I just love the hands in this image. I think for a lot of Vivian's images she'd observed things in their natural state and used that as her subject while slightly suggesting tweaks to enhance the beauty in the natural world - as any good photographer does. The colour is just so rich too, with the dress and nails matching it’s a subtly bold image, supported by the obscure but assured hand-pose and stark shadows. The symmetry of the dress outline just draws you in and guides you to the hands so beautifully and organically. its a beautiful image with a lot to admire.

I was first introduced to her work after watching Finding Vivian Maier (2013) with my father and step-mum as a baby photographer. (Fully aware that I am still quite the baby photographer at 23). John Maloof’s acquisition of Vivians archive, purchased a storage locker in a blind auction filled with hundreds of rolls of her undeveloped film. He decided to develop them, discovering her incredible images, that would have otherwise been lost forever. You could say the rest is history but it really was just the beginning for the life of her work.

She has such a fascinating story... apparently she was quite mysterious - no family and no children despite being a unfondly remembered nanny. Contrasting her lively work, she was very private and reserved. I think her work is so powerful, and her influence on street photography is astronomical and will continue to be a really wonderful legacy.