Vivian Maier

         Vivian Maier is arguably the most evasive and wondered shooter in the world of street photography. While not being able to find much on her educational background, there sure is plenty of information about her early life. Vivian Maier, having a French mother and an Austrian Father, was born on February 1st, 1926, in busy New York City. But despite being born American, Maier spent most of her youth across the ocean in France, where she grew up and had a close relationship with professional photographer Jeanne Bertrand. She then began to experiment with photography in 1949, and moved to the states permanently two years later in 1951 (New York). She worked as a nanny and caregiver for most of her adult life, and relocated to Chicago to tend to a new family.
          Because of her job, Maier was unable to develop her photos, for the constant relocation of her office made it hard to do so. When her work was finally discovered in 2007, nearly two years before her death, they found over 100,000 negatives, and over 700 undeveloped color rolls of film. Maier was really secretive about her work, but like most big secrets, they came out into the open sooner or later. There was a film produced that is all bout her life, and her secret talent, called Finding Vivian Maier. Proceeds from the movie, along with the sales from her individual photos, all go towards the Vivian Maier Scholarship Fund which helps lift the financial and opportunity burden for female students at SAIC in Chicago.
           Vivian Maier is arguably the Anne Frank of photography. When her work was found in a local thrift auction in 2007, the world was finally given a view through the eyes of Maier. No one could have been prepared for what they would find buried in Maier's monstrous collection of negatives. One thing that makes Maier's work unique is her shift on subjects and style. She started shooting in color around the time she moved to Chicago. Her work slowly steered away from people as she started shoot found objects like those in dumpsters, newspapers, and graffiti. Maier has definitely left a mark in the world of photography by setting the steps for a lot of new photographers today.