Solitary Dog Sculptor I

A riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma.

Piecing together Vivian Maier’s life can easily evoke Churchill’s famous quote about the vast land of Tsars and commissars that lay to the east. A person who fit the stereotypical European sensibilities of an independent liberated woman, accent and all, yet born in New York City. Someone who was intensely guarded and private, Vivian could be counted on to feistily preach her own very liberal worldview to anyone who cared to listen, or didn’t. Decidedly unmaterialistic, Vivian would come to amass a group of storage lockers stuffed to the brim with found items, art books, newspaper clippings, home films, as well as political tchotchkes and knick-knacks. The story of

this nanny who has now wowed the world with her photography, and who incidentally recorded some of the most interesting marvels and peculiarities of Urban America in the second half of the twentieth century is seemingly beyond belief.

An American of French and Austro-Hungarian extraction, Vivian bounced between Europe and the United States before coming back to New York City in 1951. Having picked up photography just two years earlier, she would comb the streets of the Big Apple refining her artistic craft. By 1956 Vivian left the East Coast for Chicago, where she’d spend most of the rest of her life working as a caregiver. In her leisure Vivian would shoot photos that she zealously hid from the eyes of others. Taking snapshots into the late 1990′s, Maier would leave behind a body of work comprising over 100,000 negatives. Additionally Vivian’s passion for documenting extended to a series of homemade documentary films and audio recordings. Interesting bits of Americana, the demolition of historic landmarks for new development, the unseen lives of ethnics and the destitute, as well as some of Chicago’s most cherished sites were all meticulously catalogued by Vivian Maier.

A free spirit but also a proud soul, Vivian became poor and was ultimately saved by three of the children she had nannied earlier in her life. Fondly remembering Maier as a second mother, they pooled together to pay for an apartment and took the best of care for her. Unbeknownst to them, one of Vivian’s storage lockers was auctioned off due to delinquent payments. In those storage lockers lay the massive hoard of negatives Maier secretly stashed throughout her lifetime.

Maier’s massive body of work would come to light when in 2007 her work was discovered at a local thrift auction house on Chicago’s Northwest Side. From there, it would eventually impact the world over and change the life of the man who championed her work and brought it to the public eye, John Maloof.

Currently, Vivian Maier’s body of work is being archived and cataloged for the enjoyment of others and for future generations. John Maloof is at the core of this project after reconstructing most of the archive, having been previously dispersed to the various buyers attending that auction. Now, with roughly 90% of her archive reconstructed, Vivian’s work is part of a renaissance in interest in the art of Street Photography.

Site dedicated to Vivian Maier

http://www.vivianmaier.com/

 RETRATO

Mi infancia son recuerdos de un patio de Sevilla,
y un huerto claro donde madura el limonero;
mi juventud, veinte años en tierra de Castilla,
mi historia, algunos casos que recordar no quiero.

Ni un seductor Mañara, ni un Bradomín he sido
-ya conoceis mi torpe aliño indumentario-,
mas recibí la fecha que me asignó Cupido,
y amé cuanto ellas pueden tener de hospitalario.

Hay en mis venas gotas de sangre jacobina,
pero mi verso brota de manantial sereno;
y, más que un hombre al uso que sabe su doctrina,
soy, en el buen sentido de la palabra, bueno.

Adoro la hermosura, y en la moderna estética
corté las viejas rosas del huerto de Ronsard;
mas no amo los afeites de la actual cosmética,
ni soy un ave de esas del nuevo gay-trinar.

Desdeño las romanzas de los tenores huecos
y el coro de los grillos que cantan a la luna.
A distinguir me paro las voces de los ecos,
y escucho solamente, entre las voces, una.

¿Soy clásico o romántico? No sé. Dejar quisiera
mi verso, como deja el capitán su espada:
famosa por la mano viril que la blandiera,
no por el docto oficio del forjador preciada.

Converso con el hombre que siempre va conmigo
-quien habla solo espera hablar a Dios un día-;
mi soliloquio es plática con este buen amigo
que me enseñó el secreto de la filantropía.

Y al cabo, nada os debo; debéisme cuando he escrito.
A mi trabajo acudo, con mi dinero pago
el traje que me cubre y la mansión que habito,
el pan que me alimenta y el lecho en donde yago.

Y cuando llegue el día del último viaje,
y esté al partir la nave que nunca ha de tornar,
me encontraréis a bordo, ligero de equipaje,
casi desnudo, como los hijos de la mar.

A UN OLMO SECO

Al olmo viejo, hendido por el rayo
y en su mitad podrido,
con las lluvias de abril y el sol de mayo,
algunas hojas verdes le han salido.

¡El olmo centenario en la colina
que lame el Duero! Un musgo amarillento
le mancha la corteza blanquecina
al tronco carcomido y polvoriento.

No será, cual los álamos cantores
que guardan el camino y la ribera,
habitado de pardos ruiseñores.

Ejército de hormigas en hilera
va trepando por él, y en sus entrañas
urden sus telas grises las arañas.

Antes que te derribe, olmo del Duero,
con su hacha el leñador, y el carpintero
te convierta en melena de campana,
lanza de carro o yugo de carreta;
antes que rojo, en el hogar, mañana,
ardas de alguna mísera caseta,
al borde de un camino;
antes que te descuaje un torbellino
y tronche el soplo de las sierras blancas;
antes que el río hasta la mar te empuje
por valles y barrancas,
olmo, quiero anotar en mi cartera
la gracia de tu rama verdecida.
Mi corazón espera
también, hacia la luz y hacia la vida,
otro milagro de la primavera.

 

Sixty years ago today New Zealand mountaineer Sir Edmund Hillary and Nepalese Sherpa Tenzing Norgay made the first confirmed ascent of the world's tallest peak which reaches 29,029 feet. Since then thousands of people have made the attempt, with many perishing. Just last week 80-year-old Japanese mountaineer Yuichiro Miura became the oldest person to reach the summit for the third time, although he said that he nearly died on the descent and that this would be his last time. The 1953 expedition that took Hillary and Norgay to the top ended with a stay of just 15 minutes, with Norgay leaving chocolates in the snow and Hillary leaving a cross that was given to him by Army Colonel John Hunt, the leader of the British expedition. -- Lloyd Young ( 37 photos total)

Tenzing Norgay, left, and Sir Edmund Hillary on their historic ascent of Mount Everest in 1953. (Associated Press)

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Sir Edmund Hillary and fellow climbers, on Mount Everest in 1953 during the first credited ascent to the mountain peak. (New York Times) #

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Sherpa Tenzing Norgay stands on the summit of Mount Everest May 29, 1953 after he and climbing partner Edmund Hillary became the first people to reach the highest point on Earth. (Edmund Hillary/Royal Geographical Society via Associated Press) #

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From left; Colonel John Hunt, Tenzing Norgay (better known as Sherpa Tensing), and Edmund Hillary make a jubilant return to Britain after becoming the first men to scale Mount Everest. (George W. Hales/Hulton Archive via Getty Images) #

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Sir Edmund Hillary, left, and Tenzing Norgay Sherpa smile after summiting the Mount Everest in 1953 in this undated handout photograph. Nepali Sherpa friends of Sir Hillary, who died on January 11, 2008, lit butter lamps and offered special Buddhist prayers in monasteries for the mountaineer, calling him a great philanthropist and friend of Nepal. Hillary, who scaled Mount Everest in 1953 along with Nepal's Tenzing Norgay Sherpa, spent much of his life afterwards helping Sherpa communities in Nepal, including projects to build hospitals and schools. (Norgay Archive via Reuters) #

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Media film the statues of Edmund Hillary, left, and Tenzing Norgay during a function to mark the 60th anniversary of successful ascent of Mount Everest, in Katmandu, Nepal, on May 29, 2013. Hillary and Norgay were the first people to set foot on the peak of Mount Everest on May 29, 1953. (Niranjan Shrestha/Associated Press) #

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Kancha Sherpa, a team member of the 1953 Mount Everest expedition that placed Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary on the summit of the world's highest mountain, and Amelia Rose Hillary (2nd R), granddaughter of New Zealand mountaineer Edmund Hillary, waves to well-wishers from a horse-drawn carriage during a procession for Everest Summitteers during the Mount Everest Diamond Jubilee celebrations in Kathmandu on May 29, 2013. Nepal marked 60 years since the first ascent of Everest May 29, celebrating the summiteers whose success has bred an industry that many climbers now fear is ruining the world's highest peak. (Prakash Mathema/AFP/Getty Images) #

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Aerial photograph of Mount Everest (back-center) and Everest's West Shoulder with Nuptse (Right - 8848m) on May 15, 2003 on the Nepal - Tibet border. (Paula Bronstein/Getty Images)) #

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Buddhist prayer flags flutter in a strong wind blowing towards the snow capped peaks of Mount Everest, center, and Lhotse, right, near Tengboche village on the trail to Mount Everest in Nepal on May 14, 2003. A team of 12 mountaineers from Indian Army, Royal Nepalese Army and Nepalese sherpas scaled Lhotse Tuesday setting a record for the highest number of mountaineers to scale the technically difficult peak in a single day. (Gurinder Osan/Associated Press)) #

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Drinks, rice and a kind of flour is offered near the end of the Puja ceremony for Team Everest on April 7, 2003, at Everest Base Camp in Nepal. The Puja is a buddhist ceremony to bless the team and its equipment and to seek safe passage up the mountain. Buddhist prayer flags radiate from the center pole. (Erich Schlegel/The Dallas Morning News via Associated Press) #

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British mountaineering photographer Jonathan Griffith climbs in the upper reaches of Mount Everest on April 27, 2013. (AFP/Getty Images) #

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An aerial view the Mount Everest range some 140 km (87 miles) northeast of Kathmandu on Jan. 14, 2011. The government said it aims to double the number of foreign visitors who come to Nepal every year to one million in 2011. (Prakash Mathema/AFP/Getty Images) #

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Members of the E3 99 Everest Extreme Expedition negotiate a three ladder bridge over the Camp 1 crevasse at 19,500 feet on Mount Everest in Nepal, on May 13, 1999, testing vital sign monitors and gathering additional information on hypoxia and acclimatization. (Associated Press) #

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Mountaineers pass through the treacherous Khumbu Icefall on their way to Mount Everest near Everest Base camp, Nepal, on May 18, 2003. With the weather providing a safer window for summit attempts starting May 19, many teams, including the joint Indo-Nepalese army, Korean and Japanese have left for attempting to climb the world's highest peak. (Gurinder Osan/Associated Press) #

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A view of the Kumbhu icefall, the first hurdle in the ascent to Everest from base camp, as seen from Everest Base camp, in Nepal, on May 17, 2003. (Gurinder Osan/Associated Press) #

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Climbers from various countries descend Khumbu Icefall on their way back to Base Camo on May 22, 2013 after summiting Mount Everest . May is the most popular month for Everest climbs because of more favorable weather. Earlier this month, an 80-year-old Japanese man Yuichiro Miura became the oldest conqueror of Mount Everest and Raha Moharrak became the first woman from Saudi Arabia to scale the peak. (Pasang Geljen Sherpa/Associated Press) #

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An aerial photograph of Everest Base camp, a large tent city full of climbers at 18,000 ft. May 15, 2003 which sits at the foot of Mount Everest on the Nepal-Tibet border. A record 1,000 climbers plan assaults on the summit of Mount Everest to celebrate the 50-year anniversary of the first successful assault on the World's tallest mountain. (Paula Bronstein/Getty Images)) #

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Nepalese Sherpas climb Khumbu Icefall, on May 16, 2013 above Base Camp on their way to summit. May is the most popular month for Everest climbs because of more favorable weather. (Geljen Sherpa/Associated Press) #

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A golden glow envelopes as the sun sets on the worlds highest mountain, center, seen from Kalapathar, on the trail to Everest, Nepal, on Nov. 15, 1983. Hundreds and thousands of mountaineers and mountain lovers have gathered in Katmandu to take part in various celebrations to mark the 50th anniversary of the first ascent of Everest by Edmund Hilary and Tenzing Norgey on May 29, 1953. (Bikas Das/Associated Press) #

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Japanese Yuichiro Miura, 80-year-old professional skier, alpinist, as he advances amid an icefall to the advance base camp C2 on the route to the world's highest peak of Mount Everest, Nepal, on May 16, 2013. (European Pressphoto Agency) #

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80-year-old Japanese extreme skier Yuichiro Miura stands atop the summit of Mount Everest as he becomes the oldest person to climb the world's tallest mountain May 23, 2013. Miura, who also conquered the peak when he was 70 and 75, reached the summit at 9:05 a.m. local time, according to a Nepalese mountaineering official and Miura's Tokyo-based support team. (MIURA DOLPHINS Co., Ltd via Associated Press) #

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Japanese mountain climber Yuichiro Miura, 80, shows a victory sign upon his arrival at the airport after climbing Mount Everest, in Kathmandu May 26, 2013. Miura, who has had four heart surgeries, reached the top of Mount Everest on Thursday becoming the oldest person to conquer the world's highest mountain. Miura, who first climbed Everest in 2003 and repeated the feat five years later, takes the oldest climber record from Nepal's Min Bahadur Sherchan, who reached the summit at the age of 76 in 2008. (Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters) #

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Two people (bottom left) stand next to their tent as they camp at the base of the earth's highest peak, Mount Everest, in the Tibet Autonomous Region, the People's Republic of China, on Oct.13, 2011. Tibet is a vast land of harsh, arid, brown plateaus and majestic mountain ranges. Living in the thin air of this high altitude desert are many nomads. Religion is an integral part of life for Tibetans, and most partake in religious pilgrimages of hundreds of kilometers to visit the region's monasteries and sacred sites. (Barbara Walton/European Pressphoto Agency) #

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Members of Mount Everest (Mt. Qomolangma) expedition team inch their way up a slope of the mountain on May 19, 2005. (Suolang Luobu/Associated Press) #

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In this image released by mountain guide Adrian Ballinger of Alpenglow Expeditions and taken May 18, 2013, climbers make their way to the summit of Mount Everest, in the Khumbu region of the Nepal Himalayas. Nepal celebrated the 60th anniversary of the conquest of Mount Everest on Wednesday, May 29, 2013, by honoring climbers who followed in the footsteps of Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay. (Adrian Ballinger/Alpenglow Expeditions via Associated Press) #

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Mount Everest (top), or Sagarmatha, the highest peak in the world with an altitude of 8,848 meters is seen in this aerial view next to the 6,812 meters (22,349 feet) high Mount Ama Dablam (bottom) on April 22, 2007. Climate experts agreed on a U.N. report on May 4, 2007 that said fighting global warming is affordable and the technology available to slow the growth in greenhouse gas emissions and stave off climate chaos, a senior delegate said. (Desmond Boylan/Reuters) #

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Climbers make their way to the summit of Mount Everest on May 18, 2013, in the Khumbu region of the Nepal Himalayas. Nepal celebrated the 60th anniversary of the conquest of Mount Everest on Wednesday, May 29, 2013. (Adrian Ballinger/Alpenglow Expeditions via Associated Press) #

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In a May 19, 2009 photograph, unidentified mountaineers descend Mount Everest. A group of top Nepalese climbers are planning a high-risk expedition to clean up Everest, saying decades of mountaineering have taken their toll on the world's highest peak. "Everest is losing her beauty," seven times Everest summiteer Namgyal Sherpa, 30, told AFP. "The top of the mountain is now littered with oxygen bottles, old prayer flags, ropes, and old tents. At least two dead bodies have been lying there for years now". (AFP/Getty Images) #

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Tents glow in the twilight as clouds cover Everest Base Camp in Nepal on May 22, 2003. Many teams have rescheduled their summit attempt due to bad weather, even as some managed to reach the summit of Mount Everest from the south side, first climbed this season by the Indian-Nepalese army team early Thursday. (Gurinder Osan/Associated Press) #

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Climbers navigate the knife-edge ridge just below the Hillary Step on May 18, 2013 during their way to the summit of Mount Everest, in the Khumbu region of the Nepal Himalayas. Sixty years ago Wednesday, Sir Edmund Hillary and climbing partner Tenzing Norgay were the first to set foot on the summit of Mount Everest, the highest point on earth on May 29, 1953. (Adrian Ballinger/ALPENGLOW EXPEDITIONS, via Associated Press) #

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Arunima Sinha poses with the Indian flag on Mount Everest. The twenty-six year old Sinha, from the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, who lost her leg after she was thrown from a moving train two years ago, became the first female amputee to climb Everest on May 21. (Arunima Sinha/AFP/Getty Images) #

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13-year-old Jordan Romero, right, poses for photos with a Sherpa guide on the summit of Mount Everest on May 22, 2010. Jordan became the youngest climber to reach the top of Mount Everest after climbing it from the Chinese side accompanied by a team that included his father, his stepmother and three Sherpa guides. (Team Romero via Associated Press) #

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Two Japanese climbers, in blue, rest on top of Mount Everest, surrounded by Tibetan prayer flags on May 20, 2013. (Pasang Geljen Sherpa/Associated Press) #

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Nepalese Mountaineer Apa Sherpa with Mountain gear stands atop Mount Everest, Nepal, on May 22, 2010 while breaking his own record. The Nepalese conquered the 8,848-metre high Mount Everest for the 20th time on May 22, breaking his own previous world record in a climb he dedicated to environmental awareness. (Apa Sherpa via European Pressphoto Agency) #

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Nepal marked 60 years since the first ascent of Everest May 29, celebrating the summiteers whose success has bred an industry that many climbers now fear is ruining the world's highest peak. (Tshering Sherpa/AFP/Getty Images) #

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Mount Everest seen from above Everest Base camp, Nepal on May 26, 2003. Sir Edmund Hillary's son, Peter Hillary, is scheduled to hold a prayer session and ritual mask dance at the monastery today to commemorate 50 years of his father's and Tenzing Norgay's climb to Mount Everest. (Gurinder Osan/Associated Press) #

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Tibetan Buddhist prayer flags are seen on the summit of Mount Everest on May 18, 2013 in the Khumbu region of the Nepal Himalayas. Nepal celebrated the 60th anniversary of the conquest of Mount Everest on Wednesday, May 29, 2013, by honoring climbers who followed in the footsteps of Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay. (ALPENGLOW EXPEDITIONS via Associated Press) #