John Maloof, a 29-year-old eBay entrepreneur and real estate agent, is now principal cheerleader in the effort to find a niche for Ms. Maier at the pantheon of modern photography. He is only about one-tenth of the way into the task of scanning and archiving 100,000 negatives of hers in his possession, working with his friend Anthony Rydzon. And they have yet to develop several hundred rolls of black-and-white film and about 600 color rolls.
It's kind of an interesting question -- usually importance in the art world is a combination of excellence and influence. So even if you hate Andy Warhol, you have to admit the guy was influential, so he deserves his place in art history.
Now we have a case of someone whose work was excellent, but for obvious reasons could not possibly have influenced anyone else. Where should she be in the history of art?
The same place as Van Gogh and Emily Dickinson. She had little influence while she was alive, but will gain more as time goes on. Posthumous fame is a cliche in the arts.
I'm only an amateur aficionado of photography, but Vivian Maier seems a bit different. The quality is undeniable but the style seems a bit derivative or antique by 2010 standards. At least so far, I don't see territory that hasn't been well covered by other street photographers.
Maybe more treasures will be unearthed from the collection, though.
A thought just struck me: maybe she just couldn't afford, or never had time, to get her negs developed. What sort of photographer might she have become if she could have closed that loop just a bit faster, or easier?
http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2095598
John Maloof, a 29-year-old eBay entrepreneur and real estate agent, is now principal cheerleader in the effort to find a niche for Ms. Maier at the pantheon of modern photography. He is only about one-tenth of the way into the task of scanning and archiving 100,000 negatives of hers in his possession, working with his friend Anthony Rydzon. And they have yet to develop several hundred rolls of black-and-white film and about 600 color rolls.
http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/07/new-street-photogra...
The photos are truly extraordinary.
Watch this terrific segment too - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWEDOnBfDUI
And for those of you fortunate enough to reside in Chicago - http://www.explorechicago.org/city/en/things_see_do/event_la...