To the outside world, Vivian Mayer was nothing more than a nanny and housekeeper from Chicago. However, her hidden talent as a photographer was only recognized after her death in 2009, when John Maloof bought 100,000 of her negatives at auction and published a book.
Mayer has spent most of her life roaming the streets of Chicago with a Rolleiflex camera and printing amazing black and white photographs that capture every aspect of mid-century America.
Vivian Mayer: nanny and photographer
Vivian did not receive a penny for her photographs, but calling her an amateur simply does not turn her tongue. She did not show her photographs to anyone, no one even knew about her hobby. At the same time, she left a real photo-report archive, according to which it is now possible to compose lectures for students about the life, fashion, traditions and culture of that time.
Vivian Mayer: nanny and photographer Glory to the amateur photographer Vivian Mayer (1926-2009) came only after her death. Moreover, the discovery of her work has become one of the most significant events in the world of contemporary photography.Vivian Mayer: nanny and photographer For almost 40 years, Vivian worked as a governess in various families. Her favorite hobby was taking pictures of street everyday life. All of her shots were taken with a good medium format Rolleiflex camera.Vivian Mayer: nanny and photographer During the year, Vivian Maier shot almost 200 films - that is, she actually worked like a good professional.Vivian Mayer: nanny and photographer The publication of the works of the photographer, it seems, was not at all interested. But nevertheless, she carefully kept her huge archive, numbering more than 100,000 negatives.Vivian Mayer: nanny and photographer This gigantic collection, quite by accident, was bought by historian John Maloof at one of the auctions for only $400.Vivian Mayer: nanny and photographer Reliable facts about the life of Vivian Mayer are known very little today. Until the end, the question of even the place of her birth remains unclear.Vivian Mayer: nanny and photographer Some sources say that Vivian was born in France, according to other sources she is a native of New York.Vivian Mayer: nanny and photographer Her mother, Maria Jossod, was French and her father, Charles Mayer, was Austrian. As a child, Vivian moved several times from France to the United States, but where she lived while in France is unknown.Vivian Mayer: nanny and photographer In 1951, when Vivian was 25 years old, she moved to New York and worked for a while in one of the pastry shops. In 1956, she found a job as a nanny and devoted the next 40 years to this activity, and for 14 years she worked in the same family.Vivian Mayer: nanny and photographer She spent her weekends walking the streets and taking pictures. Between 1959 and 1960, Vivian traveled to many countries, visited Thailand, Egypt, Indonesia, Vietnam, Taiwan and other countries. And in every city she visited, Vivian took a lot of photos.Vivian Mayer: nanny and photographer Over time, the archive grew rapidly, and Vivian always transported all the boxes in which the materials were stored with her to a new place of work.Vivian Mayer: nanny and photographer So, one of her employers says that he counted 200 boxes that the new governess brought with her.Vivian Mayer: nanny and photographer In addition to photographs and negatives, Vivian kept many old newspapers and audio recordings of conversations she had with some of the people in her photographs.Vivian Mayer: nanny and photographer On the films from her archive there are many completely plotless clips - for example, shooting from a train window.Vivian Mayer: nanny and photographer Vivian Mayer liked to wear huge wide-brimmed hats and men's trousers. She was a feminist and shared socialist ideas.Vivian Mayer: nanny and photographer Her character was very reserved, but at the same time, in some miraculous way, she managed to get along well with children.Vivian Mayer: nanny and photographer Towards the end of her life, Vivian Mayer became homeless for a while and lived on welfare.Vivian Mayer: nanny and photographer But the children she once raised, having learned of her plight, raised funds for her, bought her an apartment and paid her bills.Vivian Mayer: nanny and photographer In 2008, at the age of 82, Vivian slipped on the ice, fell and hit her head badly.Vivian Mayer: nanny and photographer She never recovered from her injury and died a year later in a nursing home.Vivian Mayer: nanny and photographer In Chicago, there is such a service: for a moderate fee, lockers take for storage all sorts of things that the owners have nowhere to put, but it’s a pity to throw them away.Vivian Mayer: nanny and photographer As soon as the owners stop paying for the storage of their "treasures", they are immediately put up for auction.Vivian Mayer: nanny and photographer At one such auction in 2007, 26-year-old real estate agent John Maloof bought a huge box of old negatives for a small price. Maloof made a blind purchase and at first did not attach any importance to it.Vivian Mayer: nanny and photographer But when he started developing the films, he quickly realized their true value. He again went to the same auction and bought the rest of the boxes, which contained several thousand undeveloped films.Vivian Mayer: nanny and photographer John Maloof sorted through these boxes for a whole year, until finally he came across an envelope in one of them with the name of the owner of this archive.Vivian Mayer: nanny and photographer By searching the Internet for Vivian Maier, John Maloof was able to find only a short obituary - there was no other information. Then Maloof began to search for families in which Vivian Meyer once worked.Vivian Mayer: nanny and photographer So he managed to collect several more boxes of newspaper clippings made by Vivian, the photographic equipment with which she worked, and many developed photographs.Vivian Mayer: nanny and photographer When Maloof posted scanned images on the Internet, they immediately made a splash in professional circles.Vivian Mayer: nanny and photographer Maloof received almost 200 offers to organize a special exhibition and even an offer to make a documentary about Vivian Meyer.Vivian Mayer: nanny and photographer In 2011, the Chicago Cultural Center hosted Vivian's first photography debut exhibition, and Maloof recently published a book about Vivian Mayer.Vivian Mayer: nanny and photographer True, now one can find assertions that John Maloof knew from the very beginning who the pictures belonged to, that he bought them at a time when Vivian was still alive, and that he perfectly understood what value he acquired. But this is just one version.