A nanny by profession, Maier spent most of her life working as a nanny in New York and Chicago, while at the same time cultivating—in total secrecy—a vast and extraordinarily high-quality photographic oeuvre.
Active mainly between the 1950s and 1970s, Vivian Maier documented American urban life with a quiet, attentive, and deeply human gaze. Her images capture street scenes, anonymous faces, children, workers, reflected self-portraits, and shadows, providing an authentic and complex portrait of the society of her time.
Nothing appears staged: each shot is the result of patient observation, of a discreet presence capable of capturing the moment with naturalness and sensitivity.
Vivian Maier, Untitled, cm 50 x 40, Courtesy of the artist and Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York