Chicago Tonight | Searching for Vivian Maier

In part three of our Vivian Maier series on Chicago Tonight, we meet several people trying to unravel the mystery of the celebrated photographer. chicagotonight....
Reporter/Producer: Jay Shefsky;
Music by Ballake Sissoko and Vincent Segal, from "Chamber Music" on Six Degrees Records
#WTTWnews

[@lazchapman6574]

I knew Vivian Maier. The family she nannied lived two doors down from my family. Most memories were seeing her riding on her motorized bicycle with her camera hung around her neck. She'd ride by my brother and I playing catch .I don't recall her saying anything to us,and she never took our picture.Darnit !!

[@RiaLake]

Not all the photos have been developed do you never know! :)

[@hilltopviewer8204]

Big fan of Vivian Maier's photography. Some of her selfies are shot with different Rolleiflex cameras like an Automat or 3.5f or a Rolleiflex 2.8 as the years go by. The 8mm cinefilms on KZbin are cool! 😎

[@yootoob2193]

Makes one wonder about today's digital photography, when photos are edited or thrown out, hard drives retire to landfills or fail. I'm astounded by Maloof's discovery and dedication. I'll be going to see his documentary this coming week.

[@maxshootsfilm]

this is one of the manny the reasons I shoot film

[@LuciferrOk]

I don't completely agree with you, the guy who bought her photos posted them on the internet and got hundreds of responses asking for documentaries and art exhibitions within a day. It is the quality of her work that makes her art so unique and so interesting. Her story simply shrouds more mystery upon it.

[@jansmiths8629]

WE LOVE YOU VIVIAN.

[@IainHC1]

Watched all 3!! Brilliant :-) Love the work and the work you have done too :-) Thankyou Iain

[@MRG2112MGV]

Sadly... Vivian Maier is Only Famous because she is Dead, and someone other than a "Family Member" has brought her Photographs to Galleries... If Vivian Herself was out going from Gallery to Gallery trying to get someone to give her a showing, she would meet with a Lot of Rejection... Sad, but that IS the way that people are... If you try to promote yourself, people pay you no mind... and "while you are Still Alive', nobody will call you a "Genius" ... Sad but True, especially in the Art World.

[@robertbutts9835]

So true as an photographer I went to galleries in Toronto and no one is interested. I still hope for a break sometime great video about a talented artist

[@ClankyRochet]

Now we know, who invented mirror selfie.

[@ptboyindenver]

You are correct. I was in that forum the day he posted those pictures. It is full of analog photo geeks and we were all stunned.

[@robertbutts9835]

I love her work great video info about her life and work. As a photojournalist / street photographer I had watched some stuff about her and the following day I ventured into the street and took pictures differently.

[@LisaBradshaw62]

Dempsey says he was her friend.. Did he never think to ask her anything about that vintage camera she wore round her neck!!! Only to mock the fact it probably had no film..

[@BearwoodBrown]

I stumbled on your videos of Vivian the other day and it opened a new world for me , with names like Breson and Capa I had to check them out also ,both amazing photograpers , with Capa dieing in Vietman very touching , thanks looking forward for stories of Ms Maier

[@rickforrestal]

I am just discovering Vivian Maier, and her wonderful photographs. I can't wait to see the film, "Finding Vivian Maier", due to be released late March, 2014.

[@rajsingharora26]

Fascinating.

[@lindagiovannazambanini6218]

Just came across her story and photos last night and haven't stopped reading or watching videos since! I'm absolutely stunned. I'm not an art historian - but I practically minored in art history and think i have a good eye for art. Her work is that of genius, IMO. I think she will eventually - if not soon - be seen as the greatest street photographer in history. As for her "privacy" - she was not "shy" she spoke up bluntly and passionately about her political beliefs. She was also extraordinarily independent for a woman in the 50s and 60s back when straight women were emulating June Cleaver! I've been an LGBT activist since '75 and my gut instinct tells me she was a closeted Lesbian. Also her selfies totally set off my Gaydar. I think this is her great "enigma" and why she took so many shadow photos of herself. The one that haunts me most in this regard is her photo of herself split down the middle by shadow. There is also another one in which she's taking a photo of herself in a window composed of many tiny vertical beveled glass panes which split her eyes in almost a cubist fashion --- i think it was a photo she took in LA if i remember correctly.

[@eladbari]

Very smart & interesting observation, Linda :]

[@lindagiovannazambanini6218]

Thank you eladbari! :)

[@lylecosmopolite]

Like Maier, I am half French and have lived a bit in New York, and a lot in Chicago. She captured like no other the gritty Chicago I knew in the 1970s. Maier left us hundreds of hours of tape recorded conversations; here's hoping they will be transcribed one day. I too am very moved by her selfies, but where you see a closeted lesbian, I see a classic lanky French women of last century. BTW, if she was a lesbian, being a nanny forced her to be an inactive one. Also, there have always been str8 women who refused to live on the ranch.

[@mrsrager00]

She is my new obsession.

[@lindagiovannazambanini6218]

Me too! :)

[@patboudotlamot]

me too ( RIMBAUD was the 1st ( only a few pics ) ROBERT JOHNSON the 2nd ( just a few pics too ) VIVIAN MAIER the 3rd ( tons of pics but the same mystère )

[@DougGrinbergs]

I enjoyed all 3 parts of this series. Bannos interview camera seems focused on enlarger instead of her.

[@LindyLooo99]

Can we pre-order the book?

[@Well_Edumacated]

Sounds a lot like how Robert Johnson disappeared for a year and came back a Master.

[@JanPBtest]

Why is it that even professionals cannot pronounce "Rolleiflex" correctly? for example at 7:13 (both the narrator and the photographer). It's not "Rollie", it's ROLL-EYE-FLEX. Good grief, it's a _major_ name in cameras.

[@patboudotlamot]

really ? ok thanks

[@johnjon1823]

She had the one year gap after seeing the photos in the exhibition because she felt her old box camera could not cut it, SO like any normal person she saved for a better camera by NOT spending money on film etc. Obviously it took her a year to get the money for her new camera. That to me seems the obvious reason there was a year without photos after she saw the exhibition. Feel free to send me money for my great insights.

[@palomaGonzalezSilva]

maybe she was gay and wouldn´t accept it or acted on it. noone says she loved someone. so..why not? photos are her legacy, and her way to connect with a world that didn´t please her.

[@lindagiovannazambanini6218]

I totally agree... see my post above!

[@harrystevens3885]

Well that Jim guy tells a totally 100% different story in the BBC documentary...........

[@gem7774]

Harry Stevens I saw that too and thought the same thing

[@apexxxx10]

Corrigendum: 1951 NY. Photo Exhibition. Cartier-Bresson never used a Rolleiflex Cartier-Bresson always used a Leica. At 9:32 " Most if not all of them used Rolleiflex" Remember, Cartier-Bresson and LEICA! Lady, check your facts next time. OK? Bangkok-Johnnie Pattaya Today newspaper www.pattyatoday.net

[@patboudotlamot]

most doesn't means all aha