# Incredible Find-Amasing Story



## kps

This is just too fantastic and truly inspiring as well...better than the Ansel Adams missing negatives story. Found this on Fredmiranda and I know many of you EhMac shutterbugs will appreciate it.

Short version of the story:

"We learn the amazing story of Vivian Maier, a Chicago nanny who took more than 100,000 photos during her lifetime but never showed them to anyone. Now that she's gone and her photos have been discovered, some say she may rank among the top street photographers of the 20th century."

Please take the time to view the video before going to the blog --great story:

December 22, 2010 - Vivian Maier - Chicago Tonight Video - WTTW

Blog is here:

Vivian Maier - Her Discovered Work

Enjoy!


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## K2ACP

That must really suck for the Nanny, she could`ve been famous


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## Max

Stunning story. Stunning work. What a treasure trove.


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## Ants

thank you for sharing. great story and photographs.


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## The Doug

Took a quick look - good gawd what a collection of great and inspiring images. I'll go over them at a more leisurely pace tomorrow morning.


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## SINC

Wow! Just wow!


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## KC4

How intriguing. This woman without any formal training, had an eye and talent hard to match even by those with formal training. I wonder what other amazing images will come about from the further exploration of her negatives.

Thanks for the story kps. I will continue to follow it.


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## SoyMac

This is an amazing, historical find.
This story is HUGE.

I've signed on as a financial backer.

(Interesting that this story has come to light at around the same time as the other historical photography event is occurring; the last Kodachrome processing.)

Thank you, kps, for posting this here.


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## The Doug

I went through all the posted images - the word _awesome_ is terribly overused these days, almost to the point of being meaningless, but not in this case. Her oeuvre is far stronger and more masterful than any superlatives I can utter in response to it. I don't know what I admire more - her ability to capture moments or her unerring sense of composition.


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## i-rui

great story and fantastic photography!


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## Max

Well said, Doug. This story is simply going to loom ever larger. It's a major find.


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## egremont

Thank you KPS for bringing this to our attention. I would have expressed my thanks sooner but I have been occupied with viewing the blog and sending links to friends who are not members of this forum but would really love reading this story and seeing the photos, especially the photos.


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## Greenman

...


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## BigDL

K2ACP said:


> That must really suck for the Nanny, she could`ve been famous


Ms. Maier is now famous you and I now know something about her. 

Perhaps her interest was taking photographs and leaving a record.


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## KC4

Yay! 
I just received a thankful email that the documentary "Finding Vivian Maier" has hit its minimum goal for funding and therefore will go ahead. 

Websites and forums such as our own seem to have played a significant part in promoting awareness of the project. (Thanks again kps!)

Pledges are still being accepted and received. I hope and would be willing to bet that they achieve full funding by their deadline.
Woot!


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## SoyMac

Seems a lot of people recognise the importance of this historic photography discovery:

_"The Chicago Cultural Center exhibition of Vivian Maier's work opened yesterday. The curators said that it was the largest turnout they've ever had for a first floor opening. It was overwhelming. It runs through April 3rd, so if you're in Chicago and, especially if you're a backer, you should take some time to visit the Cultural Center and see her 72 prints on display.

The opening reception was documented by wonderful volunteers to our film crew and we owe them a huge thank you!

Also, while we were working on this big day, we've doubled our funding goal! We want to thank our almost 800 backers for the continued support. Thank you!"_

See the _Finding Vivian Maier_ update, here.


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## Croptop

A very interesting story and some very compelling images. Thanks for posting the link, kps.


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## screature

Thanks kps. Absolutely masterful work. I think in all likelihood it was her lack of training and thus direct influence over her work that allowed her vision to remain so pure and true to herself. There is a tenderness and emotional subtlety in the examples of the work (that we have seen so far) that I dare say could only have been captured by a woman of her time. Truly lovely work.


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## Paddy

Extraordinary story, and photos - thank you for posting this kps! 

What is so odd is how many rolls of film were not processed; one wonders if she intended to get them all processed "some day" and as they accumulated, the job (and expense) just became too overwhelming? It will be interesting to see the documentary and see what they manage to find out. While it's not unheard of for an artist's talent to go undiscovered and uncelebrated during his/her lifespan, it's quite unusual for someone this talented and this prodigious to have apparently completely escaped attention, and in fact, to have kept her talents largely hidden.

There is a very good article about Vivian Maier in Chicago Magazine from December:

The Life and Work of Street Photographer Vivian Maier - Chicago magazine - January 2011 - Chicago


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## The Doug

FYI they've put up a dedicated Vivian Maier website that's better arranged, more informative, and easier to navigate than the original blog. Nice to see larger images too. Such superb work.


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## screature

Hey Doug, Ispent a good 1/2 hour at the site. Wonderful work, thank you for resurrecting this and posting the web site. Her work is amazing.


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## kps

Thanks Doug, it just gets better and better.


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## Kleles

A newly configured website for Vivian Maier's photography is vivianmaier.com. It includes updated biographical information and a larger assortment of pictures. A fascinating collection produced by an enigmatic person.


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## slipstream

screature said:


> Hey Doug, Ispent a good 1/2 hour at the site. Wonderful work, thank you for resurrecting this and posting the web site. Her work is amazing.


Ditto, thank you. So many amazing undiscovered lives like hers out there.


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