Hacker News Reader

Comment by dhimes | Hacker News Reader

Interesting, but I wish the author would decide if the name is spelled Vivian or Vivien. I also wish the author had said why she was so important, as I know nothing about photography.

View on HN

It's a bit of an exaggeration I think. Vivian Maier is tremendously talented to be sure, but "quite possibly the most important street photographer of the 20th century" is a preeeetty big leap. "Top street photographer of the 20th century" means you're going toe to toe with Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Frank, Elliott Erwitt, Daido Moriyama, Bruce Gilden, and a slew of others.

What does separate her from your average Flickr user is her technique and her knack for catching the Decisive Moment.

Go back and look at some of the pictures in the article. Now imagine having taken that photo 0.2 seconds later, or earlier. How many of them would've been as good? How many would be completely different and completely mundane? Knowing, seeing, and capturing the Decisive Moment is very, very hard, especially in the 50s and 60s before the advent of autofocus, auto-winding, and auto-everything.

She's also compositionally very competent. This is something that's harder to appreciate unless you're into photography yourself and have seen a large amount of work. Unlike most amateur street photographers, her photos are frequently not about the subject, but rather interesting light, textures, and geometry, in addition to the subject matter.

This is a cool comment. Thanks for writing it. I wouldn't have looked as carefully at those photos if you hadn't written it.

Open each photo in it's own browser window and maximize it.

Now just stop, and look at it. Think about the person shown and what they might be thinking about this woman coming up to them with a camera.

She really had a talent. And the fact that she hid it, only to be discovered by chance after her death, makes it fascinating.

So she's capturing an interaction- thanks. That's the help I was looking for. I didn't know if it was some composition style, or focus effect, or anything else that knowledgeable people may look at and remark, "Wow! This changes things!"

> I didn't know if it was some composition style, or focus effect, or anything else

It's all of that and more. Her technique in exposure, action. composition is wonderful. However as I am browsing her portfolio I keep finding myself delighted in her ability to reveal hidden worlds in the mundane.

Take for example this child playing in the dirt. He's been caught in the act, of what is surely an innocuous game. But he is wearing a jumpsuit, a coonskin cap and has a pack of matches, it speaks of so much mischief. http://www.vivianmaier.com/portfolios/travels/?pid=122

Thanks for the link. Upvote and comment for visibility

The OP post/link wants to run scripts / load stuff from all over the place, which I wasn't gonna OK. This one ( vivianmaier.com ) is OK tho, and hosting some amazing photos.. She had an amazing eye.

Though mostly candid, the shots look almost like she spent hours posing the models, setting up the lighting and set, getting the wardrobe and hair just right...plus there's an interesting pattern to the shots, how everything is just at a certain, interesting, inquisitive height, just a hair below the normal person's eye level (explained by her selfie [1]) nevertheless it asks the viewer to take on the role of a child, maybe 10 to 12, in an adult's world, looking up at adults, and down at very young children...her photography is astonishing in it's ability to draw you into the moment with this queer subjects that she's managed to find

1 - http://www.messynessychic.com/2013/02/18/found-at-auction-th...

Have a look at http://www.flickr.com/groups/onthestreet/pool/ to get a feel for this style of photography and what good looks like.

I am also a street photographer, maybe you'll find some of my shots interesting :)

http://500px.com/kennethreitz

Street photography is diFficult because you have to capture a moment without interfering and you don't want to piss someone off for photographing them. Vivian seemed to have the knack for recognizing a great moment and something about her demeanor meant she was able to approach them very easily.

I find it to be important because it documents facets of the early 1950's and 1960's that we would have not otherwise seen.

It is a very good look back in time

Reply on news.ycombinator.com