Ira Glass on Vivian Maier - This American Life - Invisible Made Visible

Ira Glass tells the story of a photographer named Vivian Maier, who shot rolls of film every day for dozens of years-brilliant shots of street life-but never showed the photos to anyone. A guy named John Maloof discovered the negatives and put out a book of Maier's photos.
Rich Cahan and Mike Williams, who created another book of Maier's photos, also appear in the story. Miki Meek helped produce, Adam Beckman filmed the interviews, and Becky Laks did video editing.
The 2012 This American Life live show “The Invisible Made Visible” featured performances by David Sedaris, David Rakoff, Tig Notaro, Glynn Washington, Ryan Knighton, and host Ira Glass. Plus dance by Monica Bill Barnes & Company, music by OK Go, and photographs by Vivian Maier.
You can download the full live show for $5: live.thisamericanlife.org

[@sapphirestrm]

She was a brilliant photographer and she did leave her photos behind; she didn't destroy them.

[@purespiritforever]

I think Vivian would be pleased. All the love and appreciation we all feel looking at her photos.She would appreciate Our emotions for her work.

[@purespiritforever]

During her life she was not able to deal with people.Now she doesn't have to. R.I.P.

[@chopin65]

I feel sorry for John. He has been criticized for profiting on the photos. But this is the man who rescued her from obscurity.

[@carlosparraga6395]

but she wanted obscurity!! dont you think its wrong?

[@vitabcdefghijklmno]

It’s unethical.

[@lp4755]

@@carlosparraga6395 Kafka also wanted obscurity until his friend decided no way...

[@jude999]

He deserves all the rewards

[@TheDriftwoodlover]

@@carlosparraga6395 she wouldn’t have saved all of them if she wanted to be the only one to see them.

[@Cali62825]

These pictures are “other worlds”. I absolutely love them.

[@davidharle8794]

A wonderful collection of amazing photographs by a truly strange genius. Her photos have a very special, almost otherworldly quality and yet are absolutely real and authentic. Thanks to John for rescuing these amazing images and saving them for everyone to enjoy.

[@helenarose580]

I like what the lady says she choose to live her Life exactly how she wanted to 😘

[@tkshots]

do you think she wanted to be single??

[@helenarose580]

Did u watch the documentary

[@chadwickerman]

@@tkshots yes. Definitely she wanted to be single.

[@ping0518]

When I was scrolling for rolleiflex cameras and her name came up... I never knew such an artist until now. WOW. I'm blown away.

[@jude999]

Maloof is a hell of a film maker. He deserves all the rewards for his heroic recovery and professional curation.

[@drtacos]

He's not a professional curator. You need to go to school for that and have lots of training. It's a lot more than just organizing a collection of things.

[@mwj5368]

I think of many things with Vivian's art and at times near tears with the drama and emotion she evokes with her camera. I think that maybe deep down she didn't have all that great of a sense of self-esteem, like maybe she never thought her works were good enough and kept them to herself. If she had known her works were art history and admired all over the world that she would have been overjoyed and quit nanny work right away. My answer is yes she would be happy they are now seen the world over and that she is highly regarded. Thanks for sharing this presentation!

[@sardoujean-claude3350]

Merci à toi, Vivian!

[@zedwms]

Viewing Ms Maier's photography is always awe-inspiring, and can bring a tear. It is as though she could see the soul of the moment. The person she reminds me of, though their artistic vision, and sensibilities, are strikingly different, is Henry Darger. They lived different lives, in different cities--though their lives did overlap, as Mr Darger died in 1974. He is considered an icon of outsider artists, and Ms Maier should certainly be considered the same. They each lived very private lives, though Ms Maier was much more sociable, and their works were prolific, and absolutely unknown to the world, until they were discovered by accident. We know much more of Mr Darger's background, than Ms Maier's, but knowing this, and seeing the chosen solitude of his life, perhaps brings some understanding to the solitude that Ms Maier chose for her life.

[@ASamson123]

Why is it that some people think private people are sad and wistfully imagine something different?

[@emilywong4601]

Ira Glass tells the story the best!!

[@zoltankaparthy9095]

She was a miracle and an enigma. We are all better for having her.

[@malibrary7053]

I just watched the Saul Leiter and Jay Maisel docs. Also hoarders. I see a pattern. Leiter saw a nobility in Maier’s rejection of ambition. I see what he was saying. But I also feel that art is incomplete somehow without an audience. But then most art that most artists create never finds an audience. Does that invalidate the art? Anyway, I’m rambling lol

[@izayus11]

She is inspiring. Up there with other private geniuses like Kafka and Vincent van Gogh

[@mwj5368]

Great presentation! Thanks very much for posting this for many to see. You unfold aspects of Vivian and even the interviewee's thoughts, unique and creative! I think that Vivian of course would not have wanted her photos and life to be exposed, but, conversely, I seriously feel that if she would have imagined that her photos were to bring happiness and intrigue and have an immense impact on the art world and provide such a unique window on life, and carry an impact worldwide and spawn books that feature her art, and much more, she would have been overwhelmed with joy.

[@fredhannum4015]

I became friends with the father of my mother's fiance (Joseph R O'Rourke) in his 80s at the time; and one day he told me about the first job he had, at 7 or 8 years old in Juarez Texas as a "newsboy" selling newspapers on the street. He told me that one day at the office he was picking up his supply of papers one of the reporters gave him a camera, and instructed him to "take some pictures if he sees anything unusual" and that "there may be trouble today" the reporter showed him how to use the Kodak accordion camera, and sent him on his way. During the day he heard a commotion down the street so he readied his camera, and took several photos of Poncho Villa and his men riding into town on horseback carrying rifles and wearing bandoleros; invading the United States ! Joe said the newspaper printed one of his photos on the front page the next day, and gave him the camera in thanks and a print of the photo. Joe showed me that camera and the print which he still had after all those years. Thank you.

[@robertbutts9835]

Awesome work

[@davidcouch6514]

Ira Glass is master presenter.

[@pennykent5687]

I feel Incredibly sad when I see these photos, on a number of levels I feel sadness. Sadness for Vivian, being misunderstood, wanting her corner of privacy when giving up so much of herself (i , totally!!! understand that with an incredibly similar background to hers). I got tired of people calling me weird and looking at me like an inquisitive dog. It's not easy to live in a world where many people are telling you often that your weird, different, odd. A person is what a person is.... Vivian may not have been like the masses.... But with that, she had genius as a photographer. PERHAPS, PERHAPS .... Like her personality, she may have been afraid of the ultimate..... That people would have thought her work was odd, weird, .... all those names people called her. Artists often feel very personal with their work. -Like their work is an extension of themselves,.... or who they are in their most private depths..... Like a diary, open for passerbys to make snap judgements that are so painful and cruel to the raw spot of an artist. Thus (maybe?) The reason for (self?) protection, -"No!" " Me!," "Mine!" I invite people to try an experiment,.... Focus on, and take notice of how your privacy is being taken and given away freely ALL THE TIME. Key, listen to the words people use to get it from you.... " I JUST NEED YOUR", "Ok, just sign here," "We'll just need your...." , " I'll need your keys..." , " Our man will be at you house by..." , " I'll need a sample...", "What time will you be needing the rental?", "How long will you be with us?" "And that account number is...." , "The password on that account?"...."For insurance reasons we need your social security number.",..." How are you feeling?," Did you sign up for your flu shot?" Well what shots have you had?" On and on and on. People think nothing of it..... till they ask how someone got such power over us. Well, we gave it away so freely. Just because someone "Wants to know your business....(look inside your bedroom "What is she hiding in that private corner of her world?!!!" ) Doesn't mean that anybody has a right to your private space!!!! I, myself, have worked privately for years, and I'm often shocked how complete strangers have been known to pick up my property and make..... comments about it. As if they had every right to do so, or as if I asked for an opinion!!!!! - No, -I'm with Vivian on this one. To many people feel entitled to other peoples lives. It's rude, arrogant, and a Tresspass of respect for an individual. So if Vivian wants to put a padlock on her door (giving the clear message "You WILL NOT enter!!!"),.... well then, more power to her. I'm betting this was Vivians one and only "My space, for me, where I can come and relax!) Why should she have to defend that stance!? Ok,, yes I'm passionate about it because I've been there. And the people who make lite of it saying crap like "What is she hiding in there?...." are usually people who if they were violated like this, they'd be calling out the troops!!!! Please! Sorry for my rant.... But like Vivian's pictures of a time gone by..... I think we've moved into a more primitive, less respectful, less civilized world. I am sad for what we've lost.... and wonder if what we've gained is some much better than those simpler times. ..... ???.

[@andybaldman]

If you like this, check out Maloof's documentary on Netflix, Finding Vivian Maier. Beautiful doc, and really well done.

[@pennykent5687]

yes

[@pennykent5687]

It's nice John made a life for himself off of Vivian. He would be lying to say that his life didn't change because of her... I'm glad to see her work, also.... thankful that John has share, but bitter and I'm not sure why. Think it may have to do with the part of the story not focused on in the end of Vivians.... life. 🙄😔😢

[@bradleyrieger1517]

I've always enjoyed her photos because they take me back to a time gone by, a time I am familiar with. But I have to wonder what all the "internet psychologists" would say about the incredible amount of "selfies" she took, be it straight image, reflection or shadow. If you look at most social media pages people do nothing but post pictures of themselves in blatant acts of vanity. I don't think vanity was Vivian's thing. I just wonder how she perceived her own self-portraits.

[@guccimain89]

Actually, from my understanding, she didn’t take very many selfies comparatively speaking. Only a tiny fraction of her thousands upon thousands of images are selfies. She described herself to somebody as “a sort of spy” which I think reflects in her “selfies”. She’s like a shadow. Kind of mysterious. She’s there one minute and gone the next. She’s also a maestro of light and knows what looks cool.

[@HunterMann]

I realize photography is very different nowadays with digital capture and people will think nothing of shooting 20 selfies a day. I’ve met a few people that appear to be taking selfies but they’re actually taking pictures of the people who would be in the background, then later in Photoshop the edit themselves out of the picture and zoom in on what their intended image capture was

[@rdsully1221]

boy, they made this a sappy one

[@tkshots]

is it a coincidence that this story emanated from new york? the heart of the photographic INDUSTRY...sell,sell,sell

[@neilpiper9889]

Are you related to the great photographer Zoltan Glass

[@thejoyofskating]

Since they are so inspiring, I think she would of loved for people to see them. A lot of amazing artists never truly believe in themselves which is why the keep their works private even though they are uniquely amazing, Anyone who picks up the brush or pen deserves to be seen unless they literally do not want to be. But considering the fact she was always going on adventures, I honestly believe she would love to hear how viral she is going right now which is causing one great big adventure for many of us. All the silent artists are too afraid of not being like I think, which honestly the only critic we must defeat is ourselves, no other critic matters

[@HunterMann]

I lived for many years in the San Francisco area and was constantly shooting rolls of film. Many of those rolls are in my storage, rolls of film but have yet to be developed but stored carefully so they will still have images on them. Pictures of people unusual locations, lots and lots and lots of vintage cars I would see during my day I went through phases of shooting from the hip when I would see a celebrity or someone who looked rough and kind of gangster like who probably wouldn’t want their picture taken. It makes me wonder what will become of those images? Why did I shoot so many rolls of film, I’m sure I have a few hundred rolls of film which Likely totals over 7000 images, I know that’s not much compared to this woman’s work. If my storage were to be purchased by some stranger, do I feel they have the rights to the images? Would they add some notoriety to my life part of which is been lived in visibly on the other side of the camera rather than in front of it? At the same time that I consider this I realize that shooting on film is very different than today’s version of what they called “photography“ which is really just a quick digital capture, like some kind of madness, some kind of consumerism of images, like an obsession with Instant gratification… I thought about that the other day when I was in the restaurant and saw people with several different tables shooting dozens of photos of their meal, images of their friends or family members they were with, images of the waitress, and even photos of the menu, as though they have some kind of sense that it’s important to document the moment. We are definitely in a different era of photography, of image capturing, where the contrast to this woman documenting her daily life on real film photography is so different than someone who might shoot 1000 photos in one day with their digital camera, many of those images will be stored in files that eventually get deleted by mistake or deleted simply to make room for more image storage. I’m a huge fan of black-and-white photography and at the moment… I’m thinking about a few of the rolls of film that I shot in Paris 20 years ago… It was my first time in Paris. I realized that Paris had been photographed over and over again, every angle of the Eiffel tower has been Documented, every time of day every season of the year so I decided to spend my first week they’re not doing any photography but just observing the images and making memories in my head. At the same time I was kind of location scouting and casting of what I would take pictures of my final day in Paris. So on that day I grabbed three rolls of good black-and-white film and buy old canon camera and set out to walk around the city from sunrise to sunset. Having worked in motion picture production I developed a sharp eye and I didn’t just shoot throwaway images I would carefully search for the right angle the right contrast Adjust the camera to push or pull the light into the camera, consideration of the aperture, I am thinking about the tightness or graininess of the film I was shooting. On a roll of 36 exposures I would always get at least 20 excellent photos. So those roles have never been developed. Part of me likes having it remain a mystery and gives me a good feeling that someday someone else that I may or may not know, will find those rolls of film developed them and at least make the contact sheet so they can see visually, almost like a cinematic storyboard, what my final day in Paris was like, especially that I captured it on black-and-white film. Thanks to Ira and crew for putting together this great story that barely scratches the surface of one woman’s experience with photography,

[@greatmcluhansghost7134]

why does the photo at 10:54 make me and the audience laugh?

[@HunterMann]

It’s because the little girl took the picture of her and she had been talking about how the woman was very particular about her getting the focus correct and composition, well this photo shows the major first rule in portrait photography, you don’t cut off the person‘s head, that’s called a bad crop

[@BellyRenee]

It's 9:07

[@tkshots]

i think this is really offensive that people in this video are presuming to talk for vivian maier...when some of them never even met her??

[@tkshots]

sell,sell,sell...how much did you make guys?

[@durango-CODEBUILDER]

13:20 what a stupid question

[@2yoyodog]

Yes!..Great story..Great photograohs..Lousy presentation by Ira Glass who can't seem to slow down and give the photographs and story the time they deserve.

[@drtacos]

Everyone who thinks this is a great story unfortunately do not understand how photography is made. These photos were taken from her negatives. Developing negatives is only half of the work involved in producing a photo. Creating a print from a negative is your actual expression. It can change drastically from the negative through cropping, filters, and exposure time among other things. By them showing these negatives, they're at worst putting words in her mouth, and at best publishing a story that she was only halfway done. It's a cake that hasn't been baked or frosted yet, just the raw dough that these people have decided at what temperature and what frosting to use, and then putting that out there as her statement. All this, on top of her not wanting these to be public, is a real violation to her. And then to talk about how she was a hoarder and the kids thought she was mean. Imagine if she was sitting in the audience there, hearing that as your "this is your life" moment. How horrible. And it's sad to see Ira fall in to this marketing ploy. They aren't trying to altruistically "bring her to the public eye", they are creating a product to sell. Otherwise they would have just donated the work to a museum.

[@blankblank7101]

I agree with you but sadly, most don't.

[@GeorgeStar]

Then the museum would have made a profit. Maloof did us a great service. There's no need for finger wagging. He broke no laws. He had the good judgement to realize what a great treasure he had found and he brought to the world's attention one of the greatest photographers ever. He deserves to make a profit.

[@drtacos]

@@GeorgeStar Good, I would much prefer a museum make a profit than some guy. They are non profit organizations for the benefit of the public. They also typically have ethical standards for representing the artists in their collections, which this guy does not. Maloof was only seeking profit, and made a lot of profit for himself, and did himself a great service. You make it sound like his goal was some altruistic thing. You can do plenty of horrible and unethical things and break no laws at all, so that's hardly a reasonable metric. He made a profit off her unfinished work without her consent. I'm guessing you think all museums should strictly be a for profit system then? If his actual goal was to show her work to the world, he would have done so without trying to make a quick buck. He would have donated the work to the museum immediately. He wouldn't have been sued by the county. And again, we are seeing her unfinished work, finished by someone else who had no clue her artistic intent. He made decisions for her in processing those negatives, and put words in her mouth by doing so. He is presenting it as her voice and its disingenuous at best.

[@FloridaPapu]

What happened Ira"? Were you double parked? For God's sake... SLOW DOWON WHEN YOU TALK.

[@yinoveryang4246]

Realistically, a lot of the success of these photos, to us these days, is about the quality of film versus digital photography and a fascination with history. That’s why they look so elegant and artful. But are they really that great? One or two, certain,y yes. But a lot of this is quite prosaic: Ms Maier certainly had the skills to understand exposure, focus, and she was quite excellent at composition, and recognised light. The basic skills for anyone being good at photography, she had obviously studied. But hmm.

[@jonathanknightphoto1122]

Have you seen her "portfolio" images? There is no doubt they are truly some of the greatest street photographs of all time. The way it is presented in this presentation was framed around a "day in the life" rather than her "best of the best." (Full disclosure I hate what John Maloof has done to her archive and I wish her work had stayed where she wanted it)

[@neilpiper9889]

She couldn't afford to get the films developed. She should have developed them herself. I would've developed them for her

[@tkshots]

the photographic world originated in paris and was then transferred to new york...in the 60s/70s some bright spark got the idea of turning photography into an "art" so he could charge bingo numbers for a shot...and it worked...as william klein said when it happened,he was amazed...vivian maier is the latest example...there are some good shots here,but there are also some average and terrible ones...don't believe the hype