I went to Dunkers Kulturhus in Helsingborg and saw the exhibition of the photographs of the mysterious Chicago and New York nanny, Vivian Maier (1926 - 2009), who turned out to be a world class street photographer, but only received the recognition she so enormously deserved, after her death - and by sheer chance.
The story of this private and unusual woman, who earned her ways as a nanny for wealthy Chicago and New York families for more than forty years, but simultaneously managed to take hundreds of thousands of sublime photographs of street life in the 50ties and 60ies - is quite amazing.
Check out the documentary 'Finding Vivian Maier', it is a really intriguing story! (It's on Netflix at the moment).
Here is a very small taste of her wonderful work (starting with one of her many odd self portraits). So full of human empathy, so gentle - and yet sharp and unflinching. And her mastery of graphic composition, is almost like a thing secondary to that fantastic eye. I will never stop being curious about just what it is (besides a certain technical knowledge) that makes a great photographer. She sure was one.
See much more on her official website - and be prepared to browse for a long time!
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