THE SECRET NANNY STREET PHOTOGRAPHER

Hope your week is off to a wonderful start! One of the changes you'll see on Tiny Bits from Boo is more photography, both my own photos and those of photographers I admire.  I've always been interested in photography and that interest has only grown since moving to New York.  Earlier this summer, I took a wonderful photography course at the International Center of Photography, and highly recommend their courses for anyone looking to further their photography skills and knowledge.  It was in this course where I first saw the work of Vivian Maier, often referred to as "the pioneer of street photography". 

In 2007, realtor and historian John Maloof purchased a large box of never-developed photo negatives (roughly 100,000) from a small auction house in Chicago.  What he found inside was an outstanding catalogue of Vivian Maier's images.  Her work is now a treasure to those in the art world, in part because she never shared her work or passion with even her close friends. Maier worked as a nanny most of her life and in her free time shot street scenes in New York and Chicago throughout the 1950s and 1960s.  Her pictures highlight the mundane, everyday life, strangers glamorous and rugged, and unknowingly capturing the fashion of the era.  Vivian's passionate devotion to documenting the world around her through homemade films, recordings and collections, provide one of the most fascinating windows into American life in the second half of the twentieth century.  You can browse the collection online. John Maloof is also releasing a documentary, "Finding Vivian Maier", which is currently in production.  To get a sneak peek, check out the trailer here. 

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