Finding Vivian Maier: Summary

Finding Vivian Maier: Summary

            Finding Vivian Maier is an exploratory documentary directed by John Maloof and Charlie Siskel in 2014. It recounts the discovery and investigation of a nanny named Vivian Maier by Maloof. The film starts with shots of the interviewed subjects attempting to summate Vivian: eccentric, private, mysterious. They express surprise over her massive collection of photographs, realizing they never fully understood their French nanny, nor did they know anything of her private life.

The scene rewinds to the winter of 2007 to reenact Maloof at an auction house. In his voiceover, Maloof describes himself as an aspiring historian looking for photographs of Chicago. He wins a box full of Vivian Maier’s negatives and develops them. Maloof remarks that the photos had little value to his historic project, but he concludes Maier’s array of Chicago street life is artistically significant. As an example of Maier’s photographic subjects, the documentary streams a series of her black-and-white photos: children laughing, playing, posing, staring through windows; elderly people frowning, huddling, alone on street corners, towering in the frame; pedestrians injured, mingling, looking aside, standing on roof edges; dilapidated housing, abandoned dolls, filled trash cans. Maloof uploads the photos, and they go viral. The camera zooms in on comments heralding the Maier’s photos. Maloof tries to research Maier, but only turns up an obituary from two days ago. Maloof then traces several addresses from the receipts. He successfully reaches several people, all of whom had Maier as a nanny and housekeeper.

            A “pack rat”, according to one of her wards, Maier saved most of her objects. With the help of the ward, Maloof retrieves much of Maier’s things. The documentary plays a time-lapse of Maloof arranging Maier’s collections of clothes, shoes, letters, and more, filling an empty room. However, none of Maier’s collections rivalled her negatives in abundance; with over 150000 shots of undeveloped negatives, and hundreds of recordings and films, Maier’s collection cannot be fully published by Maloof alone. He tries to garner interest from major museums, but the curators reject the photos. Maloof tries holding an exhibition in Chicago to celebrate a selection of Maier’s works. The venue has a successful turnover, explains the venue owners as the camera scans across the bustling gallery. The documentary shows that Maier made ripples in the artistic world: in clips of brief news segments, the hosts announce the discovery of Maier as a talented, yet unknown, photographer. The segments end with Maloof’s interview on one of the programs, affirming that “[His] mission is to put Vivian in the history books”.

            The documentary switches to an interview with a professional photographer, Joel Meyerowitz, who expresses his awe verbally of Maier’s photography skill. Mary Ellen Mark, also a photography expert, notes Maier’s eye: “her framing, a sense of style, a sense of humor, of tragedy—she had it all”. Another segment showcasing the photos plays; this time, it focuses on the work Mark notes, such as photos of a frowning clown, a solitary man, and an injured elder. She wonders aloud why Maier remained obscure until after her death, and Maloof once more contacts phone numbers from receipts and gathers the interviewees.

            Introducing a visual image of Maier, the interviewees describe Maier—she was tall and rigid, dressing in loose-fitting men’s clothes, wearing her hair short, speaking with a French accent, and always carrying a Rolleiflex camera around her neck. She was a nanny, housekeeper, and caretaker. Unmarried, and no known family, Maier died alone. The documentary lists self- portraits of Maier in windows, shadows, even a mirror transported by workers.

The documentary returns to Meyerowitz, who analyzes Maier’s camera. He states that the Rolleiflex is a “great disguise camera”. Photographers seeking privacy for their work favored it since it shoots from below, making the Rolleiflex popular for street photography. For many of the interviewees, the implicit secrecy of this camera coincided with Maier’s private nature. Maier demanded for privacy in her lodgings and often gave fake names: B. Maier, Viv Meyer, V. Meyers, and so on. Panning over Maier’s letters, the documentary shoots envelopes with Maier’s many names. Still, Carole Pohn, a friend to Maier, describes the nanny as nurturing and loving to her wards. Many of the interviewees agree that Maier, in her earlier nannying days, was energetic and passionate. The children adored her, and in colored film shot by Maier, they play and chat with their nanny, who teases them in return. Often, Maier would take them out to the city to explore and play. Maier would take advantage of these outings for photographic endeavors, so she would even take the children to alleys. Between these interviews of the fully-grown interviews, the documentary displays photos of the outings, from shopping center windows, to discarded boxes on street corners.

Maier identified with the poor, according to some. Meyerowitz, Mark, and Maloof note Maier’s prolific photos of poverty. Most of her works were of children and pedestrians, but a substantial amount also depicted homelessness and deterioration of Chicago. Maier herself also never accrued much financially. Still, she saved enough money to travel around the world, taking a diverse collection of photos of people and places in Thailand, India, Egypt, and Yemen. The documentary quickly showcases these photos in tempo with fast music. The photos multiply in the silence of the voiceovers and the energy of the music, before the documentary returns to more interviews.

            The documentary also addresses the ethics of uncovering the work of an artist who never published her own work. Maloof questions if he has any authority to investigate Maier’s life. Many of Maeir’s acquaintances believe that the nanny would have been distressed or disturbed by the interest incited by her photos, though others affirmed the investigation as important. To determine what Maier would have wished and where she hailed from, Maloof visits a family records office. The documentary plays an interview of Michael Strauss, the head genealogist. As Strauss walks down a room full of cabinets, the camera follows him and zooms in to Maier’s family history documents once dug up. While Maier’s family remained unconnected and Maier unmarried, her mother originated from a small French town in the Alps, while Maier was born in New York.

            Panning to an airport terminal, the documentary follows Maloof’s flight to St. Bonnet and St. Julien, the home of Maier’s mother and frequented by Maier in her life and photos. Maloof arrives and speaks with Sylvain, a cousin of Maier. Since Sylvain does not speak in English, the documentary subtitles him. It is here that Maloof finds a camera from Maier’s mother, and, more pertinent to the ethics of revealing Maier’s photos, a photography lab with a letter sent from Maier. When translated, the letter reveals that not only was Maier aware of her photographic skill, she also had wished to publish her photos. In the following interview, Maloof expresses this discovery as “groundbreaking” for the investigation. The film cuts to segments of lab technicians developing the photos in a darkroom, then returns to more stories of Maier by her wards.

            From here, the documentary describes Maier’s later nannying days. In contrast to the early interviews, the interviewees describe Maier as “mean”. The film focuses on Inger Raymond, who recalls times when she provoked Maier to strike her, once for not knowing how to tie her shoes, and another for eating too slowly. Maier’s later employers note her fixation on newspapers covering violent crimes. When the voiceovers end, the documentary blows up headlines announcing rape and murder. Maier had a distrust of men, notes one of her former wards, and the documentary once more plays film recordings made by Maier. Instead of children and outings, the films focus on signs of nude shows and men fondling women. According to Inger, “[Maier] had a dark side”. She began hoarding more newspapers, enough to bow the floorboards. When her papers were taken, Maier lashed out, described one interviewee. This outbreak led her to lay off Maier. Such an account repeats across the interviewees. Still, despite Maier’s growing temper and “craziness”, her acquaintances admitted they were reluctant to fire her and grieved to see her leave.

            Since Maier had no home, two of her wards, now grown, settled an apartment for her at Rogers Beach. The documentary features brief interviews with the residents who reported seeing Maier either on a bench or near dumpsters. While none formed a bond with her, one resident called her “a nice lady”, while another felt that Maier was “a lonely lady”. Maier did not stay at Roger Beach very long though; after slipping on ice, Maier injures herself, and an ambulance takes her to a hospital. Three months later, in April 2009, she passes away.

            After a stream of photographs of injured and elderly people, the documentary returns to Meyerowitz. He appraises the photos again in his interview, believing that Maier was “watchful and caring”, making her “the perfect nanny… and photographer”. He theorizes that Maier possibly wondered “’Why didn’t I push myself to get the work out there?’ Some people’s character prevents them from doing that”. In the end, Maier “didn’t defend herself as an artist. She just did the work”. The interviewees express appreciation for having Maier in their life, with many assured from Maier that she enjoyed her life. Some even say the discovery of the photos was timed well: Maier “would have found the attention overwhelming” had she revealed her photography during her life. The documentary ends the topic of Maier’s death with Pohn. She states that Maier was buried in a ravine she used to visit with her wards, filled with strawberries and “happy memories”. Clips of children playing in this ravine precede a still shot of the ravine recently, still full of trees, strawberries, and filtered light.

            Across the artistic world, from Los Angeles, to Berlin, Denmark, and more, the documentary films exhibitions of Maier’s photos, now gaining an audience. The last exhibition shown is in St. Julien. The documentary pans over the fields, housing, towers, then finally, the exhibition entrance and interior. Several of the photo subjects, now elderly, examine the photos and offer their comments. Switching back to the U.S., the documentary replays the time-lapse of Maloof arranging Maier’s belongings, only backwards, leaving the once-filled room empty. A voiceover of Maloof plays over the lapse. While he still does not understand why Maier was “so private, yet so prolific”, he continues to petition for Maier’s recognition as a photographer.

Finding Vivian Maier ends with a close-up of Maier’s self portrait in a chemical wash, bathed by the red light of the dark room. Her voice recording plays: “Nothing is meant to last forever…” Maier states, “…you have to make room for other people”. To her, life is “a wheel; you have to get off, and somebody else takes its place”. The developing photo shapes into a self-portrait of Vivian Maier in her baggy clothes, large hat, and Rolleiflex camera, and Maier ends her recording to “get started with work”. The documentary fades to black, and the credits play (Finding Vivian Maier).