Vivian Maier in NYC until Jan 28th 2012, at the Greenberg gallery.
http://www.howardgreenberg.com/front...tLabel=CURRENT
Corrected spelling,
thanks, I had taken the spelling from a CBS wen page :-0
Printable View
Vivian Maier in NYC until Jan 28th 2012, at the Greenberg gallery.
http://www.howardgreenberg.com/front...tLabel=CURRENT
Corrected spelling,
thanks, I had taken the spelling from a CBS wen page :-0
I saw it last weekend. Meh... There were a few I liked, but the selection on show, at least, didn't strike me as a basis for canonization.
FWIW, also in NYC, there's another Maier show running at the Steven Kasher gallery. I didn't get to see that one. One of the gallery attendants at Howard Greenberg had the courtesy to badmouth the Kasher show to another visitor who asked about it, insisting the pictures there were inferior and not Maloof-approved. Whatever...
PS: I'll make this into a LF thread by adding that Judith Joy Ross, well known for her 8x10 POP contact printed environmental portraits, is showing at Pace/MacGill - mostly large color inkjets this time, though a couple of 8x10 B&W contact prints sneaked in.
http://www.pacemacgill.com/show_inst....php?item=103#
The correct spelling is Maier.Quote:
Originally Posted by Allen in Montreal
Ack! ..........as my daughter would say! :( :(Quote:
Originally Posted by Oren Grad
Greetings, i would encourage you to visit the Vivian Maier show at the Steven Kasher Gallery ( to be expanded and running concurrently with Weegee's Jan. 12th opening). The images are from my collection, which contains over 15,000 Vivian Maier images. You can visit those images, and others, at my site: vivianmaierprints.com. A Vivian Maier is a Vivian Maier is a Vivian Maier!
All best and thanks, Jeff Goldstein
Jeffery,
Thank you posting, if I understand, the collection ended up in two people's hands, Maloof and yourself?
I will time my visit to see both Maier and Weegee together.
Interesting that we have discussions going in two separate threads about two deceased photographers whose work is getting a big play right now. Both are, IMHO, getting the play based primarily on the circumstances surrounding their photography and the resulting promotion, not on anything that would have merited that kind of attention otherwise.
Does anyone besides collectors, promoters, etc. really see something so compelling about Vivian Maier's photography as to differentiate it from that of any other decent street photographer working over that long a period in those locations? It seems to me that if one makes 100,000 or so photographs on the streets of Chicago and New York over roughly a 40 year period as she did, the law of averages and a thousand monkeys with a thousand typewriters says they're going to hit an occasional home run and that's about it.
I should add that I haven't seen the originals of her work, only reproductions. However, for this kind of photography I don't see that originals vs reproductions is that critical though I could be wrong.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Allen in Montreal
Hi Allen, I do hope you have the chance to see the work at Kasher. I will be visiting NY at the time of the Kasher opening on the 12th. and would look forward to meeting with you, or anyone else, to chat. We are having our prints done by a master printer here in Chicago and the character of our prints has a different feel then that at Howard Greenberg's show. Perhaps it's the difference between Chicago sensibilities, ours, and a New Yorker's printing sensibility.
I will put out there that Vivian Maier spent the better part of her life shooting in Chicago, so dibs.
Brian, I too would be interested in meeting with you and discussing your points of view.
Best, Jeff
Jeffrey
Are you printing this work in silver gelatin using an enlarger?
I have seen a few of Vivian's negatives printed in silver on an enlarger and they look correct to the timeline of when she was photographing.
What are your thoughts on the material this work is being printed on?
Bob
I was impressed with Vivian Maier's work when it was being discussed several years ago. My opinion was, and still is, that this is excellent work, conveying pathos and humor in equal doses. Add to that a keen sense of composition and skillful use of selective focus, and you have the work of an individual who ranks with the best photographers, past and present, engaged in documentary street photography.
However, a question yet unanswered is, to what extent have her original compositions been altered; have they been cropped? Are we in fact looking at manipulated interpretations of her vision from the results of cropping and printing. Or does it matter? I really enjoy looking at her work.
Hi Bob and Merg, good questions. My time is presently limited, I am the only one in the office till after the new year. I think it matters greatly to stay as true to the images and times in which they were shot. We do no cropping and all the prints are darkroom silver gelatin. We print in what we think is a straight forward, workmanlike, Chicago blue collar manner, if you will. We feel it best represents the approach that Vivian Maier's would have used. There are not enough good prints to give us the answers to "copy" from. Ron Gordon, one of our two printers, came out of retirement to work on this project. He shot many the same places as Vivian and is of the technical era that holds the commonality to sensibilities that we suspect Vivian Maier would have herself incorporated. Ron doesn't dictate his sensibilities onto the print, he constantly is in a mode of asking himself what would Vivian Maier do or want here? I do feel Ron, being of the age that he is, the experience that he brings, being from the same city Vivian shot in and his sense of questioning along with the personal weight of interpretation he carries allows for crisp, exciting, straight forward, w and cleanly executed prints to be made. Avoiding frills, fussiness, embellishments, all things that we don't associate with the character of Vivian Maier. In a word, a no nonsense approach. The other half of the printing team is Sandy Steinbrecher who brings her own rich and varied experience to the mix. Sandy and Ron have worked together for over 15 years. Substantial discussions take place between the two, both in and out of the dark room. I will see if I can turn them over to your questions. Again, I would enjoy the chance to visit with anyone in NY... signing out, Jeff
Hi Bob and Merg, good questions. My time is presently limited, I am the only one in the office till after the new year. I think it matters greatly to stay as true to the images and times in which they were shot. We do no cropping and all the prints are darkroom silver gelatin. We print in what we think is a straight forward, workmanlike, Chicago blue collar manner, if you will. We feel it best represents the approach that Vivian Maier's would have used. There are not enough good prints to give us the answers to "copy" from. Ron Gordon, one of our two printers, came out of retirement to work on this project. He shot many the same places as Vivian and is of the technical era that holds the commonality to sensibilities that we suspect Vivian Maier would have herself incorporated. Ron doesn't dictate his sensibilities onto the print, he constantly is in a mode of asking himself what would Vivian Maier do or want here? Of course there is the element of where you can't get away from yourself. I do feel Ron, being of the age that he is, the experience that he brings, being from the same city Vivian shot in and his sense of questioning along with the personal weight of interpretation he feels brings to the table (wall) something crisp and exciting, straight forward, well thought out, and cleanly executed. Avoiding frills, fussiness or embellishments, all things that we don't associate with the character of Vivian Maier. In a word, no nonsense. The other half of the printing team is Sandy Steinbrecher who brings her own rich and varied experience to the mix. Sandy and Ron have worked together for over 15 years. Substantial discussions take place between the two, both in and out of the dark room. I will see if I can turn them over to your questions. I would enjoy the chance to visit with anyone in NY.
Jeff, I would be happy to reply to any direct questions about the printing. Ron Gordon
The prints at the current Howard Greenberg show are silver; at least to my eye, the style of printing did not call attention to itself one way or another.
The Greenberg show also includes some small, vintage prints of or by Maier. A few of them are quite nice. As a group, they look very much as though they were salvaged from shoeboxes.
Jeff,
Were these prints shown in Chicago earlier this year? The description Oren gives sounds like one exhibit I went to in the spring. I can't remember the gallery name.
The other was the Maloof prints at the Cultural Center, which were ink jet prints.
Quote:
Originally Posted by chris_4622
Hi Chris, the prints at Kasher are a completely different grouping from what you saw at the Russell Bowman Art Advisory gallery here in Chicago. Those images are posted on both Kasher's site and ours, vivianmaierprints.com. The images previously seen at Bowman's can now be viewed on the Stephen Cohen Gallery, LA. site.
Follow-up from today's NY Times Lens
NY Times Lens Blog
A few years ago on another photography forum I read numerous posts by John Maloof on the topic of Vivian Maier. At the time he was seeking advice regarding his find. He had been looking for photographs of old Chicago, and in the process came upon Vivian Maier's negatives and related items. Being in real estate, the value to him was not in their artistic merit but in their historical use. In short order Mr. Maloof realized the commercial value of his find, and proceeded to do what anyone would do -- he monetized it. After all, it was his property, and in my opinion he was free to do with it as he pleased. Why not? To my knowledge Mr. Goldstein traveled a similar road, but he had fewer negatives and related items to work with. I have no idea who possesses the best photos. As far as I know, many rolls of film have yet to be processed. After many decades, will there be recoverable images on all these rolls? Clearly, and to the benefit of his endgame, Mr. Maloof has promoted his own name adroitly.
I think many photographers are irked by Vivian's "canonization" because they believe her personal story has advanced the prominence of her work more than the quality of her work. And while there may be truth to this, I doubt anyone could disagree with the assessment that her work is quite good. Vivian's personal story informed her work because as with all photographers her history formed her personality, and when it comes to street and other types of photography, a photographer's personality is present in their photos. How is it present? It's present in the expressions on their subject's faces, in what they choose to shoot, in how people react to them, and more.
Gallery owner (and true friend of photography) Howard Greenburg said words to the effect that Vivian's story was of huge value to advancing interest in her work. To me, she's like Mary Poppins with a camera -- a spoonful of developer makes the... Well you get the idea. Personally, I believe Vivian was lonely. The camera gave purpose to her days off from her work as a nanny. Her Rolleiflex T was her chaperon, her plus-one, it was the proverbial book that accompanies a solitary diner in a busy restaurant filled with couples. But more importantly, her Rolleiflex was the ice-breaker between herself and the people she selected to meet and photograph. As an aside, the color work Vivian produced later in her life with 35mm IMHO is vastly inferior to what she was able to accomplish with a Rolleiflex and black and white. Subjects interact much differently with a 35mm than a TLR. The same can be said of her 8mm movie work (shown at Greenburg's gallery). I know this is all included so that we may learn more about her, but....
Vivian has two distinct audiences -- photographers and non-photographers. For the non-photographers, Vivian has aroused interest and appreciation of photography. For photographers, she has inspired many to shoot more and create a body of work that might garner interest, and to those already doing this, it has given them hope that there might be room for more photographers at the top. I believe the attention Vivian Maier's work is receiving will be like the rising water that floats all boats, and aid the careers of other worthy photographers, of which there are so many.
Regarding the printing of her work by traditional methods and not cropping the photos, I don't think this matters at all. In my opinion the best prints possible, by whatever means should be made from the best of her work. She has enough quality work to not necessitate the showing of inferior photos like her shot of a pigeon or the back of someone's head for example. Anyone who has shot street photos with a Rolleiflex knows that there are many times when you don't have time to compose the way you want, and that you later crop for the benefit of the photo. Therefore, there is no reason to make the full crop a religion. Of course, as Vivian is gone, it's impossible to know her intent or preference.
Well, this is all I feel like writing at the moment.
My inspiration for trying a Rolleiflex began with my appreciation for Richard Avedon's work.
What I've written above was shaped by my own on-going journey with a Rolleiflex:
http://www.blurb.com/my/book/detail/2966155
http://www.blurb.com/my/book/detail/3218037
A postscript, then: I did get to see the Kasher show of Maier pictures on a later visit to NYC. Alas, I found them even less interesting than the ones I saw at Howard Greenberg. So I'm afraid my overall feeling hasn't changed.
Were you unable to find a few photos, print quality nonwithstanding, that you liked at Greenburg or Kasher? I have a copy of Vivian Maier Street Photographer, and there are quite a few excellent photos inside. Did you click on the links at the bottom of my post?Quote:
Originally Posted by Oren Grad
One of my friends bought 40 negatives of Vivians work when they first started going on Ebay. Her goal is to make silver gelatin fibre prints of this body of work.
This is what I said about the Greenberg show further upthread:Quote:
Originally Posted by Dan Wagner
Not to worry... Nobody is under any obligation to agree with me. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Oren Grad