In 2007 John Maloof, a Chicago historian, photographer and filmmaker bid $380 on a box of negatives in an effort to find some local images for a book he was writing about Portage Park. The photos came from a storage space belonging to Vivien Maier, who had failed to keep up on its payments, resulting in the selling of tens of thousands of negatives, prints, audio recordings and 8mm film. Upon examination and subsequent purchases from the same collection, Maloof discovered that he had uncovered work comparable to the greatest street photographers in history.
Following this chance discovery, Maloof has worked tirelessly to promote Maier’s photography, leading to this incredibly moving and fascinating documentary, Finding Vivien Maier, which he also directs. In it, he attempts to piece together the enigmatic life of Maier through testimonials of the now-adult children she used to nanny for, using the extensive collection of photographs, letters and receipts she left behind to help piece together the puzzle.
The story is fascinating, compelling and is perfectly paced and presented from its opening. The instantly likeable Maloof appears genuine and altruistic in his desire to promote the work, which has been justifiably compared to Diane Arbus and Henri Carter-Bresson. Despite never being apart from her Rolleiflex camera, and taking close to a quarter of a million photographs during her life, Maier never sought to have her work shown, leading an incredibly secretive and in many circumstances, bizarre life.
As the narrative unfolds, fascinating aspects of her life are drip-fed. Physically, she carries an uncomfortable six foot, almost masculine frame. Her harsh, angular face is betrayed by piercing eyes through which she beautifully captured candid moments of humanity on the streets of New York. At first it seems she was French, a claim later disputed by linguistic experts. We know she was a nanny, who seemed to relate more closely to the children she cared for rather than the adults she was regularly fired by.
Whereas the remarkable photography shows an insight into one aspect of her psyche, the audio recordings she left behind fill in a lot of the gaps in her intriguing existence. Her floaty, Julia Childs-like tone of voice, decorated with the faint hint of a not quite effected French accent help paint the portrait of an almost mythical, Mary Poppins figure who cared for children in the day, whilst mastering her craft at night.
As more still is uncovered about her life, Maloof and co-director Charlie Siskel, helped with the recollections of several of her former acquaintances (who themselves are an eclectic and entertaining group) suggest a dark origin to her life, offering explanation for her sometimes short temper, eccentric ways and dislike of certain types of men. She seemed to adopt different personalities during her eclectic life, constantly changing things like the spelling of her name or the place of her birth, always guarding her personal information closely, never unnecessarily giving out her phone number or address.
Maier died penniless and destitute in 2009, living out her life as a compulsive hoarder. As well as her phenomenal collection of negatives, she obsessively kept newspapers, knick-knacks, clothes and anything she thought might be useful. But Maloof has rightly brought her stunning collection of work to the public eye, and achieved for Maier in death what she was unable to do in life. A beautiful, heart-wrenching and utterly fascinating documentary about one of the most interesting stories in recent times, and for me the best documentary of 2014 so far.
Finding Vivian Maier will be shown at Broadway Cinema until Thursday 31 July 2014.
Vivian Maier Site
Finding Vivian Maier Official Site
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