Photofusion is continuing the run of the incredible Vivian Maier: A Life Uncovered exhibition which opened this summer at the London Street Photography Festival. The exhibition will be in Brixton till 16th September and is well worth a visit. I have already been to see Maier's works twice this Summer and will be going to Photofusion for thirds and probably fourths.
Maier worked as a nanny but led what could be described as a double life as she was also a relentless street photographer; from the 1950s till the 1990s she took over 100,000 photographs worldwide. She had no formal training and in her life time she received no acknowledgment or praise for her vast body of work. But in 2007 when John Maloof bought a box of her anonymous negatives from a Chicago auction house he instantly saw the talent and scope of her work. Maloof took it upon himself to catalogue and archive her work so that it can be enjoyed across the world for years to come.
The most incredible thing about Maier's story is that not even all of her images have been viewed yet. When she passed away she left behind boxes of undeveloped film which presumably she had not had the time or the finances to develop. The Maier exhibition currently at Photofusion, is just a 48 piece slice of her colossal body of work - and it is incredible. Many of the shots on display were taken in Chicago, New York and Canada - looking at them I felt an overwhelming nostalgia for a time and a place which I have never even lived through. Maier's photographs simultaneously expose the vulnerability, the pride and the beauty in her subjects. But don't take my word for it.
Below are a few of my favourite shots by Maier...
This has really inspired me to visit the show. Love the yellow trio shot.
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