Finding Vivian Maier

Thursday night was a sell-out for VFF, but fortunately the first film we wanted to see started early, so we showed up a bit over an hour beforehand and succeeded in getting in. Finding Vivian Maier is an odd documentary telling the tale of how a box of around 100,000 negatives, purchased almost by chance at a Chicago auction, launched a young man's obsessive tracking of the photographer. All that was known of her was her name. On the evidence, it was worth the effort. Take a look at the web site John Maloof uses to display her work. Avoiding spoilers, Miss Maier was a nanny/caregiver who lived a very private, almost secretive second life as a street photographer. Armed with a twin-lens Roleiflex, she shot tens of thousands of photos, mostly black and white, some colour, as well as some 8 mm film. Often she took her young charges with her on her excursions.

Maloof should have been a detective. He tracked down many of Miss Maier's one-time employers and the children she took care of, and through interviews, some archival material and the photos themselves, gradually the film teases out a fascinating story of this peculiar and talented photographer.

The untold story, and one that kept puzzling me as I watched was what drove Maloof to pursue the tale so doggedly. His search must have consumed his life for some time. His struggle to persuade the art establishment to recognize Vivian Maier as an artist on a par with Diane Arbus, Atget, Lisette Model and other renowned street photographers must have cost him a fortune as well -- for example, the cost of mounting the first public showing at the Chicago Cultural Center. The only interview I can find on line seems to suggest he's been funding the enterprise on his own. Surely we deserve a sequel documentary, perhaps titled What Makes John Maloof Run?