Photographer calls Vivian Maier a born talent ahead of Tallinn exhibition

An exhibition of US photographer Vivian Maier’s work opens at Fotografiska in Tallinn on Friday, ERR’s Terevisioon reported. Photographer Liina Raud described Maier as a born talent who mastered the techniques of street photography.

Raud first encountered Maier’s name during a photography history lecture at university. Although Maier may not have been the greatest photographer, Raud said she was certainly among the notable ones.

Maier’s contribution to photography was discovered only after her death. Extremely private and detached from material possessions, she worked as a nanny. Taking the children with her, she moved through urban spaces, observing and photographing them while creating a visual archive of everyday life in postwar America.

“She noticed the life and moments around her and lived in that moment. She was a very impressive photographer because she had no formal photography education. She did it simply out of interest and as a hobby,” Raud said.

Analysts have described Maier’s photographs as carefully considered, Raud added. In her view, Maier was simply a born talent who saw a scene and created the image without necessarily consciously planning its composition.

The exhibition presents nearly 200 works dating from the early 1950s to the mid-1980s.

Raud said Maier’s photographs also demonstrate her technical mastery, as she was able to capture images full of detail without sufficient light. Her work shows her ability to see detail in both dark and bright areas, while lines guide the viewer’s eye through carefully framed compositions, she said.

Although the photographs were taken half a century ago, Raud said she could also recognise her own city, Chicago, in Maier’s images. The distinctive feature is the technology of the time, she said, noting that a similar image today would simply be much clearer.