A few weeks’ ago I visited Photo London, the huge photographic show for dealers, buyers and generally interested bystanders. I know very little about photographers in general, so it was a great opportunity to get inspiration and see what’s going on in the photographic world.
Photograph featured from http://www.vivianmaier.com
Some of the work that really stood out was by the artists below:
Seydou Keita
Nino Migliori
Todd Hido
David Goldblatt
Nelli Palomaki
Sherin Neshat
Sabine Weiss
But most of all, the work of previously unknown photographer Vivian Maier really “spoke to me”. Her work stood out not because of her back story (don’t forget, I know nothing) but because it is excellent.
A Chicago eccentric, Vivian used her occupation as a children’s nanny to walk the streets for hours, recording street life with her Rolleiflex. She died unknown and penniless and it was only after John Maloof acquired a box of her hoarded negatives at auction that he began to piece together her life and work. Since then her story has been promoted and become famous, not least through the documentary film Finding Vivian Maier. Her work is documentary and prolific - you can really sense the spirit of the era - and to me at least evokes humour and pathos. For someone so much on society’s outskirts, you can really feel the connection Vivian had with the subjects she shot, and that timing she had is just so perfect.
This to me is what street photography is all about, and Vivian Maier has kept me thinking long after Photo London closed its doors, showing that inspiration can come from the most unlikely of people and places.