Vivian Maier photo analysis

Vivian Maier, a street photographer in the 1950’s, was my primary inspiration for the personal project. She was born in 1926 and spent most of her life moving between Europe and America, eventually settling down in New York where she worked as a nanny.  Although she produced and left 100,000 negatives—her work wasn’t discovered or recognized until recently in  2007, only 2 years before she died. 

By virtue of being the only people in the photo out eyes go right to the two girls, telling us that they’re the main subject of the photo. They also capture attention by being the only things with an semblance of movement. That sense of motion makes them stand out as well as the clear happy childlike joy in their faces. You can tell they’re having fun and looking at the photo the viewer feels a shadow of that same happiness and almost seems to hear them laughing as they play. Despite being an example of street photography and preserving a pure, sweet candid moment this phot also serves a documentary purpose. 

The girl’s clothes alone tell us something of the time and give us a foggy idea of when the photo was taken.  The car in the background serves the same purpose, making the photo have a tinge of documentary about it. Viewers even get an indicator of place and a further sense of the era thanks to the Terreau and Racine.  With the sign in the photo viewers know that this was most likely taken somewhere in  Quebec Canada and no earlier than the 1940’s. 

A typical example of Vivian Maier’s work, she did a wonderful job setting this photo up. It captures the viewers attention, making them feel happy and giving them a spark of childlike joy.  It makes the viewer think back to their own childhood, evoking nostalgia in everyone who looks at it. However, the photo also has enough hints cleverly placed so that they tell you when and where they children in this photo are without distracting from them of the overall mood of the photo itself.