Vivian Maier

Recently there has been a buzz in the photography world regarding the discovery of an amateur street photographer named Vivian Maier. Her work was discovered in 2007 by a Chicago historian named John Maloof, who purchased a box of prints and negatives at an antique auction. When he finally identified the photographer’s name, he found her obituary from the previous day. While Maier was unknown during her own time, through Maloof’s work to systematically scan her photographs and share them over the internet, her images are garnering worldwide acclaim. A solo exhibition of her work now hangs in the Chicago Cultural Center, and both a book and documentary about Vivian Maier are forthcoming.

What this story about Vivian Maier highlights is that photography and the history of photography is continuing to evolve, not just because of advancements in technology, but also because of the explorative work of photo archivists, historians and curators.