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Vivian Maier: Who took nannies pictures

(10 Posts)
MayBee70 Mon 01-Aug-22 16:49:37

BBC 4 last night. Part of the Imagine series. About a woman who spent her whole life taking pictures, mainly of New York. But as a live in nanny she had nowhere to keep them and couldn’t afford to have them developed. When she died her possessions, which were kept in storage, were sold off and thankfully the photographs weren’t destroyed and are now worth a fortune. It said they were on a park with Lee Millers photographs even though she only had a very basic box camera. Fascinating but, at the same time, very sad.

PoppyFlower Mon 01-Aug-22 16:55:19

Yes, I caught this documentary last week on BBC Iplayer. What a talented woman, but yes very complicated. How amazing that she is now being recognised though.

JaneJudge Mon 01-Aug-22 16:55:34

Oh that sounds an interesting series and program. It is a bit like the Mitchell and Kenyon silent observational films, have you seen those? (though I think they were 'lost' rather than them being poor, which brings me to my next point...I'm sure there are lots of very talented people who are poor who just cannot excel at their craft through lack of money and exposure. I suppose one of the good things about technology and social media is that ordinary people can gain exposure without having old fashioned 'contacts' or heaps of money.

PoppyFlower Mon 01-Aug-22 16:57:23

Ps agree re comparison with Lee Miller, but also with the French photographers Cartier Bresson and Robert Doisneau (not sure I have his surname spelt correctly!)..

MayBee70 Mon 01-Aug-22 17:01:40

It did say that what she was doing was very much like the way that everyone takes photos all the time now. The sad thing about now, though, is where will all those photos be in the future as most never become actual photos. They’ll all be on memory cards in landfill.

MayBee70 Mon 01-Aug-22 17:04:21

PoppyFlower

Ps agree re comparison with Lee Miller, but also with the French photographers Cartier Bresson and Robert Doisneau (not sure I have his surname spelt correctly!)..

There was an exhibition of Lee Millers photographs at a local gallery a few years ago: that was when I fist heard about her. Another very complicated person although that was probably due to the things that she saw as a war photographer.

JaneJudge Mon 01-Aug-22 17:14:39

MayBee70

It did say that what she was doing was very much like the way that everyone takes photos all the time now. The sad thing about now, though, is where will all those photos be in the future as most never become actual photos. They’ll all be on memory cards in landfill.

Yes that is very true May sad

MayBee70 Mon 01-Aug-22 23:13:12

I’m going to watch it again as I missed the beginning so didn’t understand about her early life etc.

StarDreamer Mon 01-Aug-22 23:26:44

Thank you for posting about this lady and her work.

LINK > www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0366jd5/imagine-summer-2013-1-vivian-maier-who-took-nannys-pictures

StarDreamer Mon 01-Aug-22 23:37:36

JaneJudge wrote I suppose one of the good things about technology and social media is that ordinary people can gain exposure without having old fashioned 'contacts' or heaps of money.

Indeed. In the United Kingdom, one can produce a pure electronic publication, such as a PDF (Portable Document Format) document using budget software, make it available on the web (thus it being published), send a copy (as an attachment to an email) to The British Library for Legal Deposit, and The British Library will conserve it, list it in their catalogue, and make it available to readers at the British Library.

LINK > www.bl.uk/help/how-to-deposit-your-digital-publications

LINK > www.bl.uk/legal-deposit