Vivian Maier’s luck changed in 2007, too late for her, because she died in 2009 oblivious to the enormous success that has surrounded her since then and that grows every day as the great photographic star that she is. She passed away as she had lived: strict, frugal, anonymous, invisible and silent. She earned her bread all her life taking care of the children of other families, while she fled from hers. She was running away carefully, leaving no trace. So much so that it has been very difficult to decipher her life.
At the same time, she photographed the streets, her children, celebrities and beggars, she photographed herself. New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, the France where he grew up… In just a few years, Maier has posthumously become a world star of photography: for the quantity, quality and novelty of his impressive images acclaimed by photojournalists of the stature of Mary Ellen Mark.
That day in 2007, some boxes stored in an unpaid storage room went up for auction. John Maloof bought a few and when he saw their contents he knew that the 143,000 negatives and the barely 7,000 positive photos were a treasure of a quality as deep as a bottomless pit.
But who was the name that appeared on the developing envelopes? After fruitless months of searching, a note published on her death found the key that opened not so much a life, but the questions that surrounded it, the ends that did not add up. She had a lot.
Another woman would be in charge of uniting them, of giving voice to that lady with a big eye but hardly any words. Ann Marks, who had worked at the Dow Jones and the Wall Street Journal, was at home, watching a story about the photographer. She was semi-retired, but she had everything removed. She was aroused by a voracious curiosity.
A genealogy fan, she ended up diving into the Maier ocean for seven years and the result, without drowning, has been Revealing Vivian Maier. The untold story of the photographer nanny, published by Paidós. This is unprecedented research.
Why so many years? Well, in part, because the story was full of secrets and lies, like in the Mike Leigh movie. “There was a moment when I dedicated more time to his life than to mine. I reviewed layers and layers of documents, data, birth and death certificates, and discovered that the ten relatives Maier had had in the US were buried…in nine different cemeteries. This data spoke loudly of a very fractured family, ”she says on the phone.
Some of the documents and the dates did not add up. Immediately illegitimate children surfaced, marital entanglements. Marks was discovering Maier’s life in France. With that knowledge of the language, her job doors as a governess opened for her in the US Taking care of children and photographing with her Rolleyflex.
Her material over the years is impressive, but she never found a way to go professional: “I don’t think she even thought about it, she knew she was good, but she didn’t try to be famous or get into high photography circles.”
To reconstruct the life of the artist nanny, the author did not have a single interview with her, so she had to keep track of those children she cared for, already older. And what she discovered was that there were “completely contradictory opinions of hers about her. Some said that she was affectionate, nice, jovial, kind, affable, responsible, Mary Poppins… ”.
“But others -he adds- remembered her as cold, strict, cynical, borderline, sullen, careless, a witch. It seems to me that they were all sincere. Depending on the time, she was a different person, she was depressed or not, she was comfortable in the house on duty or not, ”she reasons.
The eruption of the artistic volcano that the Maier legacy represents has filled exhibition halls and enriched the history of the genre in the 20th century. And, despite everything, its acceptance is not complete. “I didn’t know -explains Ann Marks- that in fine art photography you are accepted into the canon if you print your work yourself. It is clear that 95% of Maier’s work was not revealed and she has been penalized in some way for it”.
In today’s age of the selfie, Maier can’t be said to have invented the self-portrait: “But he really perfected it,” recalls Marks. It is ironic that the artist would go ballistic if someone tried to take a photo of her.
“I don’t think it was a phobia, she just wanted to prevent her family, who were evil, from tracking her down and asking for money. I spent seven years researching about it – he concludes – he, I could be seven lives and I would still have questions, but I have uncovered the main ones ”.
