Author: Xinhua Daily Telegraph reporter Lin Xiaowei
Vivian Maier (Vivian Maier , 1926-2009) is not the most accomplished and talented American amateur street photographer, but it may be the most mysterious and legendary among them. Before 2007, no one in the photography industry had ever heard of her, and in the 14 years since 2007 and now, her name has quickly become popular and attracted attention.
Now this name comes to China with some of her photos and the famous documentary " Looking for Vivian Meyer " that was once nominated for the Oscar. From March 21 to June 30, “Looking for Hidden Genius: Vivian Meyer”, the photographer’s first large-scale solo exhibition in China, was exhibited at the Today Art Museum in Beijing.
Beijing Today Art Museum Exhibition Site. Xinhua Daily Telegraph reporter Lin Xiaowei photographed
But photography is just Vivian Meier's secret hobby - her job is a low-level nanny who has worked for 40 years. She photographed the streets silently and almost fanatically, and sometimes even took the children away, but she almost never showed the photos, let alone contributed to any magazine. She frantically collected newspaper clippings and accumulated 200 boxes. The employers believed that she was strange and withdrawn without relatives and reason, and did not know that she quietly recorded the entire era.
Vivian Meier street photography works
This legend was not unexpectedly exposed until 2007. Perhaps because he was already poor and unable to afford the rent, Vivian had been unable to claim his personal belongings stored in the warehouse for a long time. In a clearance auction, real estate agent and city collector John Maloof took all of her belongings. The latter was surprised to find that the woman had taken more than 150,000 films, possessing all the qualities of an excellent street photographer: using light, composing, capturing moments, and seeing through strangers. Vivian Meier selfie on display at the
exhibition site. Photo by Lin Xiaowei, Xinhua Daily Telegraph reporter
Just as John Malouf gradually began to organize the "legacy" of Vivian Meier, she was lying in a lower-level community. Most of the neighbors didn't know who she was, but only knew that an old lady with a French accent often sat alone on a bench by the beach in a daze. Once, she met her former employer and rarely showed a fragile and lonely look, begging the latter if she could not leave for the time being and talk to her more.
In April 2009, Vivian Meier died in a nursing home in Chicago . The Gunsburg family, who had served for 17 years, rented a small apartment for her in the last days of her life, and after her death, she published an obituary in the Chicago Tribune , calling her "a free and kind soul" "magically touching every life she knows", and also "a person who will be extremely missed and truly unique." Vivian Meier selfie on display at the
exhibition site. Photo by Xinhua Daily Telegraph reporter Lin Xiaowei
It is precisely because of this obituary that a few days later, John Malouf found Vivian Meier, who had no news links before, on the search engine, and was able to gradually piece together her unimaginable and difficult-to-define life like a detective.
Double Life
Recent research on Vivian Meier revealed that she may be a French Jewish descendant who immigrated to the United States. She died of both her parents in her early years and was extremely alienated from her only relatives. When she was young, she also returned to her hometown - a small French village located deep in the Alps. She sold her inherited farm and took a series of photos of her hometown. It was also her earliest known photography work.
In the 1950s, when cameras began to enter American homes in large numbers and street photography was in full swing, Vivian Meier also embarked on the path of amateur photographers. She first found a job in a labor-intensive factory, but her great work intensity and long labor made it impossible for her to maintain her photography hobby, so she quickly resigned.
Vivian Meier street photography works
When she realized that nanny was a career that could make a living, had a lot of self-space and free time, she never changed jobs. From 1956 to 1972, Vivian Meier worked as a nanny in the Gunsburg family in Chicago for 17 years. According to the recollection of Mrs. Gensburg, Vivian Meier was not very interested in being a nanny, but she didn't know what else to do.
She even used the money she earned as a nanny to conduct a global voyage: from Middle East Yemen to Thailand in Southeast Asia, and then arrived in South America, almost running through the entire South American continent. As those who know her always remember, there was a camera hanging around her neck almost all the time, recording any moment she thought was not to miss. Her selfies looked very happy during her travels, and she was not very serious about the usual day. Vivian Meier selfie on display at the exhibition site. Xinhua Daily Telegraph reporter Lin Xiaowei photographed
However, the employer and the children she has taken have different opinions on Vivian Meier's professional ethics. In general, she is dedicated, but because she is overly engaged in street photography, she often leaves her children behind and immerses herself in the shooting when she takes them to the streets. She has taken them away more than once. She also occasionally loses control of her temper like a mortal, and beats her child when her employer is not present.
How obsessed with street photography is Vivian Meier? She would appear in some unsafe places late at night, and once she took her camera to the scene of a murder, so she was locked up in the police station. With an almost paranoid attitude and a high level of creative self-consciousness, she took pictures of the streets of the city and the people at that time, although sometimes the people in her photos seemed not very happy about being photographed and even had to punch thickly.
, in sharp contrast to this "photographical fetish", is that she stubbornly guards the bedroom and dark room, and in most cases, outsiders are prohibited from entering. A child she once cared for recalls in the documentary "Looking for Vivian Meier" that she sold part of the old newspaper stored in the corridor of the public area of the house without Vivian Meier's consent, which sparked the anger and protests of Vivian Meier. She has an exceptional preference for all kinds of cases in the newspaper, and most of the clippings she collects are sensational social editions.
documentary "Looking for Vivian Meyer" poster
Mr. Avron Gensburg of the Gensburg family recalled, "She didn't let us go into her darkroom, although we didn't want to go in." Sometimes Vivian Meyer's only requirement when interviewing with her new employer was that there was enough space in the room to store her huge luggage. What outsiders saw was just boxes, and they didn't know that they were not rinsed with film, movie clips and old newspapers.
Although the above can easily form a stereotype of Vivian Meier's withdrawn and closed , the window of her soul has also opened a tiny gap - she did not refuse to share completely, but only shared with those she thought was worth it. Collector John Malouf went to her hometown many times, and in the photo studio in the remote village of France, he found Vivian Meyer's letter. In the letter, Vivian Meier thanked the photo studio owner for washing out some of her local scenery photos and said that she would send some of her proud works if she had the chance. She even put forward technical requirements for the paper for printing .
Vivian Meier street photography works
Maybe, deep down in my heart, Vivian Meier always maintains a sincere and subtle connection with his hometown. In the United States, she even deliberately pretended to have an awkward French accent and did not leave her contact number or real name for the printing shop. The nanny was like this mysterious woman mingling in the world. In an interview clip taken by a camera, she said, "I am like a spy."
Entering the hall
Today's Art Museum's "Looking for Hidden Genius: Vivian Meier" photography exhibition is very concentrated and unified. The more than 80 photos exhibited this time are almost all selfies of Vivian Meier. The audience can see that this tall and serious woman, holding her iconic Lulai double-reverse camera in various ways, appeared in various mirror reflections.
These mirrors include both the makeup mirror in the house, the rearview mirror of the vehicle, and the glass windows of street shops. Even if there is no specific image, the work always declares the existence of the photographer in an impressive way: the shadow. Vivian Meyer's own shadow either appears in the corner of the picture or simply covers the subject opposite, making the viewer realize that this is essentially a "self-portrait".
Vivian Meier street photography works (self-portraits)
The first few years of this photographer's reputation also attracted the attention of the photography industry with his large number of selfies. Her photos reflect a cold introspection, expressing Vivian Meyer’s desire and attitude to observe and define his own identity. She lives in the photo as a photographer, not a nanny. Through her appearance and "shadow" with a strong sense of existence, she consciously embeds herself into street photography belonging to that era.
However, in her hundreds of thousands of films, there are obviously more creations besides taking selfies. In 1953, 27-year-old Vivian Meier had mastered night photography and flashing skills. On Christmas Eve that year, she captured a fight on the sidewalk in the East Side of New York, where two middle-aged men were lying on the sidewalk in blood. This photo is like a classic movie noir scene, and has excellent news photography standards, and is also full of a sense of banter and humor.
Vivian Meier street photography works
In 2020, Cultural Development Press published "Looking for Vivian: From "Mysterious Nanny" to "Legendary Photographer"" by Pamela Banos, a professor and photographer at Northwestern University in the United States, systematically sorted out Vivian Meier's current known photography works and their confusing life experience. In fact, she not only photographed murders and streets, but also photographed big stars like Ava Gardner and Audrey Hepburn . Her incredible enthusiasm for taking photos makes Vivian Meier's photos cover a wide range of subjects.
If you don’t have enough talent, Vivian Meyer will only stay forever at “a nanny who loves to take photos”, but Joel Meyerowitz, a famous American street documentary photographer who is about teenager and conscious, said after seeing her photos that Vivian “has both wise and insight”, and the work “expresses the understanding of humanity, with warmth and joking.” "I think she's a real photographer," Joel said.
Vivian Meier street photography works
Vivian Meier's dramatic life did not end after she became famous. Although she was considered a street photographer who can be evenly matched with Robert Frank, William Klein, and Diane Arbus after being popular among the media, she has never held a solo exhibition for her, and the two major auction houses of Christie's and Sotheby's have never auctioned any of her photos.
Vivian Meyer has never been authoritatively recognized. John Malouf believes in the documentary that this is a kind of exclusion from the mainstream art circle. Although the efforts to portray her as a civilian hero are part of the reason, the more reasons are probably copyright questions: US copyright law cases determine that owning a work does not mean having a copyright. After being pointed out that copyright is doubtful, John Malouf no longer appears in the media, unlike before, he spared no effort to make Vivian Meyer "in history".
Beijing Today Art Museum Exhibition Site. Photo by Xinhua Daily Telegraph reporter Lin Xiaowei
Vivian Meier has never married and has no children for life, and has died alone. "Looking for Vivian Meier" made a pathological speculation about her, believing that she might have developed autism under the influence of her original family, disgusted with men and social interaction, and regarded the room as her own fortress and the camera as another personality. Not sure, in the process of contacting strangers as a nanny and a street photographer for a long time, Vivian Meier learned about the ultimate philosophy of human joys and sorrows, and always self-isolated from the world with a downward look.
In a documentary short film, Vivian Meier once said to the camera: "I don't think there is nothing eternal. We have to leave space for others. It's like a wheel, once it turns, there's an end."
Legend is not completed
0 For John Maluff's careful exploration of Vivian Meier, whether it's industry insiders or friends during Vivian Meier's lifetime, there are more or less some different views. In the documentary "Looking for Vivian Meyer", many employers who knew her believed that if Vivian Meyer was still alive, if Vivian Meyer knew, she would not like everything John Malouf did for her. She will also stubbornly seal her works in her luggage and confined to her own world as she did in the past.
Pamela Banos also wrote in the book "Find Vivian" that the documentary directed by John Maluff is "made for the wider audience" and is not about describing a professional and complex proposition. The film itself does not describe Vivian Mayer as a real photographer, but starts from the "young male perspective" and "successfully tells the story of a mysterious woman" - a big book on her other aspects, which is undoubtedly "a kind of harm" to the protagonist. Vivian Meier selfie on display at the
exhibition site. Photo by Xinhua Daily Telegraph reporter Lin Xiaowei
Although the documentary won the Oscar nomination and many other awards that year, the gossip in it did not make all viewers happy. He thinks he is guessing the life of others and projecting various value judgments. Although the overall tone is sympathetic and caring, he ultimately measures those who may not be happy with it by some kind of "perfection" and "success". How can Vivian Meier's happiness and satisfaction be imagined and experienced by the outside world?
deliberate dramatic narrative tone, more or less working with business or god-making motivation, the large-scale Keqi always dances around, even if this year's "finding Vivian Meier" journey has far exceeded the objective value of the work. We always talk about the strange people in the great era. In them, the tragic collision of free will and the firewood, rice, oil and salt can always splash out the most interesting waves.
The obituary published by the Gensburg family for Vivian Meier said that she is an outstanding photographer and critic, but her side as a film critic may not be the focus of life, may not have legendary value, and may have little to mention. From this, she is curious that documentaries and collectors have hidden many secrets that cannot serve the core story in order to "create" Vivian Meier? How many secrets are there in her hundreds of thousands of films that even John Malouf herself has not yet known?
Vivian Meier street photography works
In comparison, in Pamela Banos's book, he is committed to combining Vivian Meier's photography technology, life stories with the atmosphere of the times and the history of photography changes, so that Vivian Meier can return to his value, significance and position as a photographer in the history of photography. This may be a bit bland, but it is closer to the reality. Pamela writes in the book that when he carefully reconstructs Vivian Meyer's scattered archives, his goal is always to "speak for her" in the latter's life story.
Street photography master Eugene Atget was unknown during his lifetime. He did not have his first photography collection and his first solo exhibition 4 years after his death. He only held his first large-scale exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York 38 years after his death, thus gradually beginning to establish his immortal status in the history of photography. It may take a long time for Vivian Meier to enter the history of photography. Her film that has not started to rinse still contains talents and encounters that are to be discovered by the world.
Vivian Meier is a hermit who practices photography and spiritual cultivation. He has been perfectly hidden under the nanny's shell for most of his life, clearly controlling the separation of clear and turbidity of the river of time. Despite this, when she met her old friends in her later years, she still showed sad loneliness, like a martyr who took off the cross and took off his divine nature. In fact, we never really know what she is thinking or what path she is going on, so we are always "looking for" Vivian Meyer. At the end of the exhibition, I remembered a poem in the movie "Picnic by the Roadside": "When my light is exposed to you, reunion is a dark room."
