Vivian Maier

I admit I have a certain fascination with vintage photographs. I used to look through Ebay and wonder about buying those lots of black & white images. These lots are just a collection of random photographs - some with writing on the back, some faded, some torn. I've never bought any but I've "watched" several auctions. I've also collected old yearbooks. I have some from the 1920s, 30s, others from the 60s and up to the 70s. I find them fascinating to look at the photography of that time as well as the fashion.

Recently I read Hey Hot Shot blog about John Maloof who at an estate sale acquired around 40,000 undeveloped negatives and embarked on a journey to pierce together this story of the photographer behind the images.

Starting his research with a name written on an envelope inside the box, "Vivan Maier," John began to piece together the story of the photographer. Vivan was a French nanny who photographed the streets of Chicago throughout the 50s and 60s. Though she was an extremely prolific photographer, she apparently never showed her images to anyone. Strangely enough, Vivan passed away just days before John discovered her identity and tried to seek her out, stumbling instead upon her recently printed obituary. The story itself is fascinating enough, but what is most interesting about it all is that images John began to develop proved to be far more than snapshots. Vivan's images are funny and sophisticated—a brilliant look at a world long gone.

Find out more here.