Manchester photography fans will be pleased to hear that a film about a photographer Vivian Maier is showing at Cornerhouse at the moment.
Maier’s photography was almost unknown until after her death when thousands of photographs were discovered in her private collection.
It seems that she took no photography courses and was self taught, working as a nanny for decades and quietly developing her technique of street photography.
She kept a lock-up filled with unprocessed film and the contents were bought by a flea-market enthusiast who began to process the film and realised the quality of her photography.
Maier’s photography is often of people on the edge of society trying to make their way in the word and also features glamorous women shopping and brightly lit buildings.
The reviews of the film and interviews with people who knew her reveal a troubled character:
“It is sad as well as perplexing that the woman who had such a knack for capturing human moods and expressions in her photographs, and showed such tenacity and originality in making her work, should have passed her whole life without forming intimate relationships of her own. In her last years she was a pitiful figure, often seen on a bench in a park, eating corned beef hash from a can.” writes the Guardian.
Perhaps this remoteness was the secret of her ability.
Street photography is where a great many photographers start.
It is not easy, requiring the photographer to engage with strangers who may not welcome the approach or to work up close to the subject whilst remaining apart from the action to capture a moment candidly.
One of the key aspects is learning to be confident and quick with your camera’s controls and settings so that a fleeting moment can be captured perfectly, something that is at the heart of all our photography courses.
