The Life and Works of

Vivian Maier
 Early Life

- Born Feb. 1, 1926 in New York City

- Moved between NYC and France with her
parents
- Moved from NYC to Chicago where she
would stay for the rest of her life
- Died at 83 on April 21st, 2009 in Chicago
 Personal Life

- Much is unknown about her personal life

because all her fame has come posthumously
- Did not attend any university or schooling and
worked as a nanny for most of her life
- She was a very independent and reserved
person and did not share her photographs
-Photographs were found in a storage unit that
was auctioned off due to missing payments
 Success as a
Photographer
- Her photos were unseen by anybody else and were
found and published around the time of her death
- Between 100,000 and 150,000 film negatives, 3000
prints, hundreds of rolls of film
- Work became famous due to the nature of its
discovery and due to the odd story behind it
- Took mostly B&W street photography in NYC and
Chicago. Many portraits but also architectural photos
 Influence/Significance
of Work
- Her work is significant due to its bizarre
discovery along with the undeniably high
quality of her photos
- Her photos mainly capture human nature
and encompass people and their varying
personalities along with city life
- Took many portraits and cityscape shots,
almost all black and white until few later
works
Photo Critique
 References (Just URLs)

http://www.vivianmaier.com/about-vivian-
maier/
http://www.bjp-online.com/2015/02/vivian-
maier-secret-photographer-oscar-contender/
Photos accredited to John Maloof at
http://www.vivianmaier.com
- Film titled Finding Vivian Maier also used
as reference