Artist Research 2

Vivian Maier

An artist who differs from the norm of curves and circles, Maier takes photos of individuals in different areas of cities which contain said curves in different places of the images. Maier (b. feb 1926 - apr 2009) took photos along American streets in bustling cities, specifically in the Illinois area. The vast majority of her photos never actually ended up being published funnily enough, although eventually people had found the photos and decided to publish them with the intention of showing the street photography.





The first photo shows quite an interesting piece of Maier taking a different perspective of street photography, taking a photo from a mirror on the street floor, to reflect an image of both her and the building. Looking deeper into the photo it could also be an abstract piece as if it's a window instead of a mirror, and shes looking down under the street into a rather abstract view. Furthermore, the addition of her in the photo adds character to the photography, and personality.

The penultimate photo I'm analysing is of a man in front of an old architectural piece, looking ahead of the camera as if he's preoccupied. This could signify how the man, who seems to be quite young, has had to mature very fast in the era he was living in. The 60s was a time of war, stress and fear which could be ingrained in this photo. Furthermore, the facial expression of the man shows that he may be in deep thought about something, as if he's having to deal with significant issues. 

Finally, we see a very famous photo of a woman standing outside of a sort of museum (pretty sure it's the one in New York City), looking very vacant and occupied in thought, similar to the previous. Her photography might be partly based off of the issues of days gone, from the cold war and from poverty. The issues also reminisce with us today - war looming over us, and poverty striking many innocent people. The photo however shows this woman to be of high stature and wealth, from her dress attire. She however still seems depressed or concerned in this time, which could show how the stress and issues from then impacted everybody.

In conclusion, her photos definitely fit the genre of curves and circles (from the architecture and reflections in the photos), but also have a deeper meaning found in the photos, which can be interpreted depending on the person. Taking photos based on her work would be positive not only for the exam brief, but also to bring a new view into life in 2019.