The Works of an Unknown Artist

So Bart first introduced me to the works of Vivian Maier, a "street photographer" who walked the streets of Chicago from the 1950s to 1990s, capturing life in America with her own unique perspective. She died less than a decade ago with her life's work undiscovered. Of course, she looked at it all as a hobby. But she had a real gift and it's only now coming to light. I found her photography to be inspiring.

If you have the time, you should really check out her work. The more images you view, the better you come to know her. She liked photographing graffiti, children, garbage, buildings, women's shoes, poor people and the seedier side of town they lived in. Strong lines, scenes within a scene, and quiet statements are abundant in her works. It's amazing. I've included just a few samples of her work.

I love the silent comment attached to this image:



The strong lines here move the eyes into the scene. A lot of her work included images of skyscrapers, factories, and other buildings with a lot of details and powerful lines:



Racism was definitely not a theme she shied away from. This theme crops up again and again in her images. And like I said, the more of her art you view, the more you get to know her. You can almost hear her whispering to you through her art:



Women's shoes. Talk about a sign of the times. I think if you were to gather just her shoe pictures together in one collection, you'd be able to tell what year it was taken. Pretty cool:



I love the scene within the scene here:



And of course, no artist's collection could be complete without a self portrait. I love the way this one is done though - bent over a mirror:



Here's another site about her. Seriously, check it out if you have the chance.