Analysis of Vivian Maier's Work - Report Example

Vivian Maier’s Some people have talents in the field of arts and this makes them do tremendous works in their specific areas of concentration. The specific areas of concentration could be photography, music, or filming. Some of them have done works that are praised by many even though they might not have attended any class but just due to their talents and interests. One of such artists who have done tremendous works even without attending any class is Vivian Maier. Based on this, this paper looks at the history and artistic works that makes her remembered in the field of photography. Vivian Maier’s Biography The famous photographer was born in 1926 in the city of New York but she was raised in France. She returned in her country and worked as a caretaker for about forty years. Between 1950 and 1990, she took more than hundred thousand photos of people and streets of New York and Chicago. She also traveled in various countries and took some exhilarating photos mainly focusing on the interactions of people and their cities (Richard & Michael, 22). Majority of her works are very detailed with a good composure. The photos also have a philanthropic outlook and she timed them to capture very important occasions. She never got tired of taking the photos because photography was a hobby to her. She never cared for whether people might be interested in her photos but rather, she took them to remind her of the various places she had visited (Richard & Michael, 22). The most interesting thing about Vivian Maier is that she did fantastic photos despite the fact that she had not attended any photography lessons. This authentic talent is what made her famous after her death because during her lifetime, no one ever thought of printing her photos. This means that she stands as the purest witness of doing a job but never getting recognition (Richard & Michael, 22). She only wanted to capture the beautiful interesting pictures of America after the golden age. Many people no very little things about Vivian Maier. John Maloof, who is a historian at Chicago, bought a box that had all the negatives of Vivian Maier in 2007 and was able to see the uniqueness in the photos. He went ahead and printed them and exhibited them for viewing worldwide. Her children refer to her as a critique of movies and a person who captured images as if she was doing it for a person. The only way she could learn English was through theatres that she loved visiting. This implies that the photographer had love for arts that steered up her talent giving her photographs a unique outlook (Richard & Michael, 22). The people who know her stated that she was always taking photographs but never bragged about it by showing them to people. Contextual analysis of Vivian Maier’s work Vivian Maier embraced modernity in her photos. This is because her photos had a peripheral vision because of the details that she captured in her photos. Many people describe her that she had an eye for detail. Her work never detached the main issue under concern but beside that, other features were also captured with the subject matter (John & Dyer, 21). Many photographers introduce an element of confusion in their works by trying to achieve this but Vivian, despite the fact that she did not attend any photography classes, embraced this in her works. Vivian also framed her works in horizontal aspect ratios. This is very logical because the various features of the world are horizontally organized. In this frame, she was able to capture many details and the photos had a uniform organization of details. She was able to achieve the world’s ironical view using imagery. She captured her photos in different angles that gave an aesthetic sense to her photos. The photos are also highly detached meaning that the engaged herself on imaging from broad visual levels. This implies that her photos are aggressive visions to the world (John & Dyer, 21). Her photos focus on the themes of politics and sociology of the America as it went through some great changes and events especially in the 1950s. Despite these themes, Maier did not have any intention on them but her focus was to take as many photos as possible, something that she really loved doing. She framed her images based on the classical concerns and had a close proximity with the main objects that she focused on (John & Dyer, 21). This means that she was not concerned with elusive vision of images. Visual analysis of Vivian Maier’s work Most of the photographs of Vivian Maier were printed using master printers and later on scanned in plates that were placed plates enabling them to be put on books. She used a 110-year-old camera that used films and saved images in negatives. Many people have not been able to capture as many details as she did using similar cameras implying that she was a one of a kind photographer (Dyer, 27). As a nanny, she captured the images of the children that she cared for mainly in the beach. A deeper analysis of her works show that she was focusing on various life aspects such as the degradation of poverty in America with the main focus being New York. Some of the images capture humorous moments, an example being one image that has an elderly couple who are scruffy in the wind. She also focuses on various motion aspects with many of her images having the frames of shadows and replications (Dyer, 27). She captured elaborate images having various layers and patterns. The various objects in the photos mean that she was a professional timer focusing on what is more than just chance. From this, it is clear that Vivian Maier always had her camera at hand and had experience in timing on various features. She had perfect skills in capturing of images (Dyer, 27). Even though it appears that she worked hard to capture interesting features, she did not but instead she was driven by the love she had for photography. Some features depicted in her images include high quality breadth, which are more than amazing. A comparison and contrast of Vivian Maier with other photographers Vivian Maier is driven by the love for photography and this is the case with other photographers. Like other photographers, she tends to capture more than one detail focusing on moments of humor, history, and relevance (Curtis, 21). She did emotive photos, which motivate anyone who looks at them. The images are able to capture the feelings of audience based on the shot themes. They make efforts to ensure that they are not disrupted when shooting their photos as this makes them capture what they intended to. A unique feature of all photographers is that they take photographs that speak of something. They do not just capture anything but instead they focus on the relevance of an object before taking a photo. Each photo done by famous photographers, have an intrigue that jogs the minds of the audience to develop a form of narration when viewing the photos Major difference between Vivian Maier and other photographers is that she did not go to any school to learn photography. She did it because she loved taking photographs and her ability to capture various features with high quality was mainly based on her experience. This is not the case with many photographers because they attend classes to obtain knowledge on the various techniques of imagery. In addition, other photographers do photography because they intend to show them to an audience; Vivian Maier did not show her photos to anyone. She did photos to satisfy her inner desires for photography. This is why she took detailed photos even though she had no relevant knowledge in the field of photography (Curtis, 21). Conclusion Vivian Maier is one of the most celebrated photographers because she was able to capture unique photos with no intentions of showing them to anyone. Without her knowledge, her photos capture important themes, which are relevant to America, especially the changes that occurred to the country between 1950s and 1990s. The interesting thing about her is her ability to balance her interests and her job and be able to deliver in both cases. This means that talent and the love for something is the basis for the best outcomes with no intentions of being recognized. Bibliography Curtis, Verna Posever. Photographic Memory: The Album in the Age of Photography. New York, N.Y.: Aperture, 2011. Dyer, Geoff. The Ongoing Moment. New York: Vintage Books, 2007. John Maloof, and Geoff Dyer. Vivian Maier: Street Photographer. Brooklyn, NY: PowerHouse Books, 2011. Richard Cahan, and Michael Williams. Vivian Maier: Out of the Shadows. 2012. Read More