Review of Finding Vivian Maier (2014) by Debby B — 09 Oct 2014

I find safe to say most artists tend to be a little bit crazy, but then I guess we all are a little bit crazy. Vivian Maier is no exception to that rule. The woman truly was ahead of her time and was a amazing photographer. In fact if exposed during her lifetime she probably would have been famous for her work. Yet she decided to stay hidden hiding her work away until stumbled upon by John Maloof years after her death. Maloof did the work for her, and finally is getting her name known. This interesting look into her life through this documentary really gave us an interesting look at someone who could be considered a genius. Maloof did something though that most wouldn't, and let people speak highly of her and in a way make a human out of this artistic genius by hearing bad stories told by people about her.

I find this to be what makes this movie so great, because it really is an insightful look at someone that was so distant from society. I find that Maier really suffered from something that most artists suffer from, that being a fear of rejection and failure but to such an extreme that she didn't even attempt to show her work. In the movie she talks about printing some of her work but never did, why did she end up not doing it? I feel it was purely fear that prevented her, but you know maybe it wasn't. Vivian was a mysterious woman, and even though this film tries to reveal more about the mystery it might leave you wanting to know more. Like other great mysteries though maybe it is better that the answers remain unknown.