(1926-2009)
Seen in a self-portrait to the right (from her website), Vivian Maier worked most of her life as a nanny in Chicago. She took about a hundred thousand photos, though many had never been developed, until they were discovered by a local historian (John Maloof) in 2007, who bought them at an auction. Since then, they have gained much popularity while they were posted on a blog which is now a fulll-blown website. They will be featured at the London Street Photography Festival this summer (July 7th-17th), see it here.
Some really excellent photos, she managed to inconspicuously capture people in the moment. It is so unfortunate that her talent could not have been discovered before her death, but perhaps the story of her discovery has spurred a fair bit of the talk.
Check out the photos here: http://www.vivianmaier.com/
The National Archives, UK, have posted a collection of the photographs from as early as the 1860s to as late as the 1980s from their Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Seen through the eyes of the colonialists, it is important to bear in mind the context in which the photos were taken. On their site it says:
The collection was brought about by the request of the Secretary of State for the Colonies in 1869. He asked governors to arrange for the taking of photographs of ‘noteworthy buildings and scenery … together with individuals of various races peculiar to the colony’. Each governor interpreted the task in his own way, which has culminated in this unique and varied collection.
They’ve also posted a good portion of the photos on Flickr, to elicit comments and possibly put names to faces (see it here). This is a truly incredible selection of photos, worth a look, though it is a bit overwhelming. Toward the bottom of the National Archives webpage, they also have some interesting podcasts about the photos.
Check out the photos here: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/africa/
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