This week was filled to the brim with interesting topics as we looked into the work of Vivian Maier, the sharing of her photographs, and the topic of street photography. Vivan was so clearly one of the World’s greatest photographers to date, and it is such a shame that her photographs only came to light after her death, however, they came very near to being lost forever.
Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on your ethical standpoint), John Maloof, who found Maeir’s images in a storage auction, recognised their value and was able to share them around the world alongside a documentary about the mysterious Vivan Maier. Whilst I thought the documentary was amazing and I am so thankful to have witnessed her work, I can’t help but wonder and feel guilty about enjoying her photographs knowing that Vivan would not approve of the way the documentary intrudes on her privacy.
Whilst the documentary does endeavor to publish her work, it also persists in finding out every detail possible about Vivian Maier and the goings-on in her life, the good, the bad, and most definitely the ugly. This posed a neverending list of ethical dilemmas, in fact, no matter what angle you look at it, there is something unsettling about the documentary and its indiscreet ethics. While I do believe the portrayal of Vivian to be unfair in many ways as she and her family are unable to defend themselves, but we must also think about the wishes and feelings of the subjects in her photos, as none of them, to our knowledge, consented to be photographed let alone published.
I had a wonderful discussion with another student about how we thought gender may have played a big part in her depiction in the documentary, as she was considered to be “different” than other women in her years. But we also wondered if she were a man, whether or not this documentary would be so fascinated by her personal life and less about her work, which alone is outstanding enough for a documentary. One could argue that similar documentaries about male photographers, such as Robert Frank, don’t delve into personal matters, only further suggesting an inequality and perhaps even oppression of women within the photography industry.
This week for our weekly exercise, we were to attempt street photography ourselves by asking 12 strangers to consent to be photographed. I won’t lie, the very thought of this task made me nervous. I don’t know if it’s the virus, not having socialised with anyone, let alone strangers, in quite some time, or if it was just my own everyday anxiety. I did set out to complete this task, however, after being knocked back by a couple of people I decided street photography probably just wasn’t for me. I can’t help but feel disappointed in myself as I’m sure if I persisted long enough I could have captured some really wonderful people.
Reference
Movieclips Trailers (2013). Finding Vivian Maier Official US Theatrical Trailer #1 (2013) – Photography Documentary HD. YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=er8-Vq__cRE.