ヴィヴィアン・マイヤーを探して

ヴィヴィアン・マイヤーにたどりつくまでに、本映像のプロデュースを行ったジョン・マルーフはいくつかの感動と疑問の間でまさに細部にわたる個人の歴史をたどることになった。ヴィヴィアンは1926年生まれの、ごくありふれた市民であった。当初マルーフは、その大量の写真が何の目的で取られたのか、なぜそれほど芸術的なのかという大きな疑問にぶつかる。それは、インターネットという現代のツールが大きな反響を呼び起こしながら、ヴィヴィアンの芸術性を世に知らしめるとともに、次第に彼女の生きた時代と、パーソナルな側面をさかのぼらざるを得なかった。ジョンマルーフは、フランス訛りがあったという彼女のファミリーストーリーを追いかけ始める。

評者は今、社会学や人類学の書籍に主に目を通しているのだが、こうした個人のストーリーを追いかける手法は、19世紀以来、多くの手記が描かれ始めたことに大きく左右されている。とりわけ、1920年代に移民と、100万都市に膨れ上がった米大陸中部のシカゴという、多くの移民のもたらした社会的な変化をつよくもった土地柄に注目される。近代産業が築き上げた巨大都市、一方で貧富の格差を生んだ社会への関心が注目され続けた街だった。

ヴィヴィアンが追い求めた1960年代のアメリカ、そして1970年代に至って家政婦として日々を過ごしながら、大量の新聞を買いため、フィルムに人々の生活を、記録し続けた彼女の関心の系譜にマルーフはリサーチを絞っていく。　
この映像の素晴らしい点は、ヴィヴィアンという人物のありかたを追求しながら、時代の中で個々の人々が何を得て、何を人生に残してきたのかを問いかけていることである。写真が写された、対象の人々を通して語られる時代も見ごたえのあるものである。一方、そうした芸術性を生んだ作者の持っていたパーソナリティとは。作品のごく終わりに、識者がキャメラに語っているシーンがある。やはり、そうした同業者ならではの、ヴィヴィアン像にたいする推論が必要なのだ。
 

Vivian Maier was a photo journalist—her photos were her diary, her camera was her pen. It’s extraordinary to think that she rarely developed any of her negatives or printed her photos—and therefore may not have ever really known how good she really was—both technically and artistically.

Posting photos on social media taught me that my least favorite pictures were the ones The Internet liked the most and the ones I loved were ignored. I learned that the mass audience doesn't want to be stretched or challenged and prefers whatever cliche is currently fashionable. The joy of being an amateur is that I don't have to care and can just keep doing what I like.

I was a "Vivian Maier" for about 25 years, shooting and developing my photos primarily for myself and a limited audience. Almost 20 years ago, I got into Flickr, and started sharing, discussing, and learning from many talented photographers. Then I was drafted by Getty Images. It became a good source of income, but I started taking more pictures that others wanted and less of what I wanted. As Flickr fizzled out, I went back to my old ways. I am not attracted to most social media, where finding good photography is like looking for a needle in a massive haystack of overcompressed and overprocessed images, selfies, and videos.

my favorite photographer. and blows my mind how she could compose so quickly, nail the focus, nail the composition, and nail the metering...hard to do that with a mirrorless digital camera and still capture the moment let alone with a TLR. just shows she knew her craft and gear so well it was automatic because she was so prolific in her shooting

Vivian Maier tapped into the true meaning of "living a full life." Just do what you love, whether people agree or not.

Vivian's work is heartbreakingly beautiful. Some years ago I visited a showing of her work in a tiny rundown art museum in Arlington Texas. Her work is worthy of a much larger and prestigious venue, but at least it was available to the masses. Even then there were only a handful of people there. I am certain it is because most people had no idea who she was. Seeing her work was a great privilege. And of course she was a photographer. No one is required to share their creations.

Thank you for this thoughtful video. I have been a professional landscape photographer for 25 years, and I stopped sharing photos and using social media almost 4 years ago. The sheer volume of photography I was consuming on feeds like instagram were clouding my own vision and crushing my creativity. Many people have told me that I was committing “career suicide” when I stopped posting photos, but some how I have managed to stay relevant and continue to work professionally and make a living doing what I love. And to be honest, I haven’t missed scrolling through those feeds or receiving likes and comments on the photos I post. One day I may return to it, but for now it has been a breath of fresh air!

I went thru a crisis of sorts about this. I had to stop myself and meditate on why I was doing photography and why (or even if) I needed to post it online. At the end, I realized that I take photos for myself, and that I like to share some of those with others with the hope.of bringing a bit of visual joy in the same way other photographers' work does for me. It also cleared my mind on what to photograph, and go with my visual instincts instead of shooting what I'm "supposed" to shoot according to the photography world. Vivian Maier is an example to follow, even if you're a professional. Always follow yourself and your artistic insight. Great video!

I was a photojournalist in Chicago in the '60's. I worked for a company that had major clients so my work appeared in countless annual reports, publicity releases and similar publications. For a hobby I wandered the streets and photographed what appealed to me. I made high quality prints and released them into the wild by donating them to various fund raising groups. They were sold, I don't know how much they went for. They are all unsigned and un-captioned. They speak for themselves. I really enjoyed doing that.

My passion is creating what I call "reflection photography." I live in New York City and spent a lot of time in Manhattan when it was so empty during the pandemic taking reflection photographs off of shop windows and puddles. When I discovered Maier's photography, I felt like I found a kindred spirit. Thank you for featuring her!

The earlier pictures by her using the twin lens reflex have an intimacy with the subject that seems to have been lost once she began using 35mm. There is a definite change in the type of subject and her approach which I think has to do with the change of view from waist level to eye level. Once the camera is up to your eye its immediately obvious to the subject that you are taking their photo and you lose something in the process.

Maier is termed a great street photographer- but Haas is called a great photographer.