Vivian Maier: early colour photos that belied a wry personality

A new exhibition showcases some of the photographer’s curious and entertaining 40,000 Ektachrome pictures taken on the streets of Chicago and New York

Ever since her life’s work was discovered by a collector in a house clearance sale, Vivian Maier has been a darling of the photography world. For years her unique story has aroused an extraordinary amount of speculation, most notably in the Oscar-nominated 2013 documentary Finding Vivian Maier.

Now a new exhibition will focus on her work in colour photography, a medium of which she was an early adopter.

Renowned photographer Joel Meyerowitz writes in the foreword to Vivian Maier: The Colour Work, that Maier was an “early poet of colour photography”.

He writes: “You can see in her photographs that she was a quick study of human behaviour, of the unfolding moment, the flash of a gesture, or the mood of a facial expression—brief events that turned the quotidian life of the street into a revelation for her.”

In her many years spent walking the streets of Chicago and New York, Maier produced around 40,000 Ektachrome colour photographs – none of which she showed to anyone. Through her unique eye for filling a frame, Maier captures a whole host of curious and entertaining sights from around the cities in the years between 1960 and 1984.

The reclusive photographer herself can be seen in many of the pictures, either prominently or lurking in the background in her trademark fashion. Much of what is understood about her personality has been inferred from her appearances in the pictures.

One photograph where a glimpse of Maier can be seen in a discarded mirror placed on a bouquet of flowers by the side of the street betrays her knowing sense of humour. Another, more direct, portrait of herself taken while having her hair cut reminds us that she was rather a strange woman after all.

Vivian Maier: Colour Photographs is on at the Huxley-Parlour Gallery in London until 14 September 2019.