Vivienne Meyer: The Hidden and Lonely "Nanny Photographer"

Vivienne Meyer: The Hidden and Lonely "Nanny Photographer"

She is a talented "street photography" artist who often sees the world through a Rollei camera, capturing thousands of vivid moments on the streets of Chicago, New York and other cities. She was not a professional photographer, she was just a nanny. She never showed the photos to others, and she didn't even see the whole picture she took. After her death, she left tens of thousands of undeveloped films. She was called "genius photographer" by later generations. She is - Vivian Maier, the mysterious photographer, one of the great contemporary American street photographers. (Vivian Maier, 1926-2009) Double life Vivian's life is very simple, was born in New York, and lived in a small town in France with her mother when she was a child, 1951, Vivian Maier He settled in the United States from France alone, first worked in a factory in New York, and moved to the suburbs of Chicago in 1956 to find a job as a nanny. She takes care of children for many families, and she loves photography, and she has started a double life as a nanny and photography. During her more than 40-year nanny career, she has traveled to several families and hid in the streets. Forty years of perseverance has allowed her to record tens of thousands of precious works and records of all beings in that era. The changing circumstances of the passage of time. In her life, she took about 100,000 negatives, and even thousands of films were not developed. Her work was unknown until she was discovered in 2007 by a local historian, John Maloof, and her photography was widely studied and cited, and her story was published around the world. in the major newspapers, and has been unanimously recognized by the people. A talented photographer, with her unique photographic perspective and simple composition, she never misses any "decisive moment" that carries heavy emotions. We can always see the shadow of master photographers such as Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Frank and Diane Arbus in her work, while her female perspective, French background and nanny career give her His works add a lot of tranquility, delicacy, warmth and playfulness. Vivian deftly frames the entire city from the streets, whether it's Chicago or New York as we see it: crowded streets and alleys, a man walking on horseback in the city streets, a couple sleeping on the tram, leaning on each other , pedestrians walking by with umbrellas and pipes in their mouths, street performers, and even a pair of men’s feet peeking out from the window… Thousands of black-and-white and color photos of Vivian’s life, locked in an abandoned storage unit, only Reveal the situation of the times before her death, the expression of the city and the appearance of all beings. Vivian seems to be sensitive to everything on the street. One second she saw class, the next second she saw race, this second she captured the joy of the world, the next she felt the saddest sadness , the street is ever-changing with the shadows she passes by, and she rotates in it, immersed in it. In the mid-1970s, she started working with color film. At that time, she was working at the home of American media person Phil Donahue (he was also one of the authors of the later documentary "Finding Vivienne"), and kept her films, dialogue recordings and old newspapers collected in his home. According to his recollection, There should have been more than two hundred boxes at that time. Vivienne Maier's selfie The tall, serious-looking woman, carrying her iconic Rolleiflex camera in various ways, appears in various specular reflections. These mirrors include make-up mirrors in houses, rear-view mirrors in vehicles, glass windows in street shops, or record their own silhouettes under the light. Vivian Maier's shadow either appears in the corner of the frame or simply covers the opposite subject, making the viewer realize that this is essentially a "selfie". The shots she shoots are bold, sharp, sensitive and gentle. The emotions conveyed from the photos can always jump out of the confinement of time and move us today, not just a cold photo. For the outside world, there is no sense of involvement, neither wanting to go deep into it, nor wanting to run in opposite directions, just like two parallel lines in the same direction, maintaining a certain distance, not too disturbing the crowd, only recording the crowd. The huge contrast of her double-sided life has left us with countless mysteries and endless topics.

(Responsible editor：Photoes)