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Finding Vivian Maier

Discussion Guide
Directors: John Maloof, Charlie Siskel
Year: 2014
Time: 83 min

You might know this director from:

FINDING VIVIAN MAIER is the first feature-length film from
these directors.

FILM SUMMARY
Mysterious, eccentric, caring, cruel, paranoid, reclusive, loner, pack rat, spinster. Viv, Vivian, Miss Maier, Mrs. Mayers.
The elusive Vivian Maier went by many names. She was many things to many people. Attempting to comprehend who
this prolific street photographer really was, FINDING VIVIAN MAIER reaches out to the many lives Vivian touched.
Where did she come from and what drove her to create so much, and yet reveal so little?

After discovering Vivian’s work at a Chicago auction house, historian and director John Maloof became determined to
uncover the tale of this woman who touched so many lives but disclosed so little of her own. Through interviews with
her employers and an extensive treasure hunt which took him from a tiny village in the French Alps to Southampton,
New York and all across the greater Chicago area, Maloof pieces together the puzzle of Vivian’s creative, solitary life. As
he develops her unexposed negatives and exhibits her art, the extent of Vivian’s previously unknown life unfolds in full
color.

A tale of opposites, FINDING VIVIAN MAIER dares to open a Pandora’s box to those who lived with her, while unveiling
extensive imagery of the world between the 1950s and early 2000s. Ultimately, the film reveals the true story of one
woman’s quest to capture the dark side of existence and to expose the stories of the downtrodden while living under
the roof of the well-to-do. The gaping holes in Vivian’s story may never be filled, but a consolation prize rests in the
hundreds of thousands of images she left behind.

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FILM THEMES “Nothing is meant

Who was Vivian Maier? A mentally ill spinster? A misfit attempting to to last forever. We
disquiet the privileged? A caretaker who opened the minds of those in her
care? Vivian was all of these and more, her body of work testifies.
have to make room
for other people.”
POVERTY AND WEALTH Vivian Maier
The poor, the downtrodden, the lowest rungs of society - this is who
fascinated Vivian and became her subject matter. It’s interesting to note
that she supported her art through the riches of bourgeois society. Rather
than laboring amongst the poor in the sweatshops, Vivian selected a line
of work that put a roof over her head, food on her table, and allowed her
the free time she needed to pursue her creative impulses. Living in the “Had she made
shadow of wealth, Vivian was able to capture the raw, unedited edges of
the human experience, never hesitating to expose the affluent children in
herself known,
her care to the darker, dirtier world that they may never have seen she would have
otherwise.
become a
PHOTOGRAPHY AS ANONYMITY
Vivian’s identity was continually in a state of flux. She regularly changed the
famous
way she wanted to be interpreted, spelling her name differently, asking to photographer.”
be called various titles, even speaking with a disputable French accent. Her Mary Ellen Mark
relationship to the world indicated an impermanence, and yet the copious
amount of photographs she took tells another story. Vivian connected to the
world at its most intimate: the blood, guts, and tears, the anguish and
heartache, the embraces, the death and deceits. Photography enabled the
mysterious Miss Maier to extend herself without ever touching, to connect
with the world she was a part of while simultaneously remaining distinctly “You’re only given
apart and ever anonymous. a little spark of
ART AND MENTAL ILLNESS madness. You
With the recent suicide of Robin Williams, the fine line between artistic
brilliance and personal anguish is once again in the spotlight. From the mustn’t lose it.”
stories told by people who knew Vivian in her later life, it becomes clear
that her struggle with mental illness grew more acute, and that the
behaviors originally considered eccentric eventually became intolerable. The
vast collection of work Vivian left behind serves as testimony to the
brilliance of this mysterious woman, but also hints at the unchecked
madness that raged through this secretive photographer’s veins.

PRIVACY = PROLIFERATION
It’s clear that Vivian did not want to be known as a photographer during her
lifetime, that her art was a private expression, one that she coveted and
kept behind locked doors. Critics never appraised her work, and by keeping
it from the public eye, Vivian never had to compromise. Perhaps in the
refuge that privacy afforded her, she felt liberated to shoot whatever
touched to her heart. The limits and guidelines imposed by society never
touched Vivian’s creative spirit or her output, allowing her to freely express
herself without risking public judgment.

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Robin Williams

FURTHER DISCUSSIONS: NOTES:

1. Were you surprised that none of Vivian’s employers knew about her extensive involvement in photography No,
because she kept it very private and employers often were not closely associated with their employees. It is, however,
impressive that people knew so little about her because although she never shared her photos, it was no secret that
she took photos all the time.

2. Why do you think Vivian used different names with the various families she became involved in? She didn’t want to
be known. She wanted to stay elusive and I think this is why she never showed the world her photographs.

3. Do you believe that Vivian suffered from mental illness? Why or why not? Yes, I think she did. I think this becomes
more apparent towards the end of her life as she becomes even more isolated and loses her job. I think she battled
with it throughout her whole life, possibly partly due to her childhood, and began showing it more as she got older.

4. Many argue that there is a connection between mental illness and creative genius. What is your reaction to that
theory? I feel that there is a connection, creative genius takes someone who’s mind works in a different way to
everyone around. And I think this can often leave to isolation and mental illness.

5. Should John Maloof have the right to publish and expose Vivian’s photography? Or do you think the posthumous
publication of her photography is an invasion of her privacy? I struggle to know what is right in this situation because
there is a part of me who still finds this invasion of her privacy not right, especially when John Maloof starts visiting
her home and uncovering parts of her life that are private. However, I also think Vivian would have wanted these
photos to be seen she just didn’t want to make herself known to everyone.

6. Is there something in your life that you conceal as Vivian concealed her photography? I think everyone conceals a lot
in life, its just that in Vivian’s case it was more extreme. I also think we often sub-consciously conceal parts of
ourselves. It also depends on the person; we naturally open up more to some people than others. I’m not sure there
was anyone Vivian felt she could truly open up to. Maybe this is why she became a Nanny to have that connection to
people without having to open up or expose herself.

7. To what extent did Vivian’s “spinsterhood” affect or inform her photography? She was fascinated by people which I
think becomes clear in her videos in particularly when she interviews people. I think she enjoyed observing people
rather than actually being close to them. She was a very isolated person, but this meant she was aware of so much
around her. Her photography allowed her to empathise be close with people without ever revealing herself.

8. Do you think Vivian’s French accent was false? If so, what did this fake accent offer her? If not, why are people apt
to call it false? The accent offered her a mystery and a disguise. I think she liked to be in control of what people knew
about her. She was not born in France which is what suggest the accent was false and I think it is quite likely it was.

9. In your opinion, why did Vivian hide rather than share her photographs? Was it distrust? Insecurity? Privacy?
Creative freedom? Or something else? I think she just didn’t want to be known. She wanted her life to be in her
control, and private. Sharing her photographs would have changed all this in a way she couldn’t control and didn’t
want.

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10. What role can street photography play in our society? What lessons can street photography teach us? I think street
photography can teach us a lot about people and society. It captures people in their natural state rather than posing.
And like in Vivian’s photos of poverty on the streets, it opens our eyes to the real problems of the world and gives us
an insight into other people’s lives.

run by women were opened in New York City in the

1890s.

FILM FACTS:
• The oldest surviving permanent photograph of an
image formed by a camera was created in 1826 by
Nicéphore Niépce, a French inventor often credited
as the inventor of photography.
• In 1884, American George Eastman developed dry
gel on paper, or film, replacing the photographic
plate and freeing photographers from carrying
around boxes of plates and toxic chemicals. In July
1888, Eastman’s Kodak camera went on the market
with the slogan, “You press the button, we do the
rest.” Photography became available to the masses
in 1900 when the Kodak Brownie was introduced.
• In November 2008, Vivian Maier slipped on ice and
hit her head. After being hospitalized, she was
placed in a nursing home, where she died in April
2009.
• FINDING VIVIAN MAIER has won three awards,
including Best Documentary at the Traverse City
Film Festival, and was nominated for two other
awards, including the Audience Award at the
Edinburgh International Film Festival.
• Many of the earliest female photographers were
from Britain and France. In Northern Europe,
women began opening photography studios in the
1840s, and wealthier British women developed
photography as an art in the 1850s. The first studios
WAYS TO INFLUENCE
• Since 2010, Vivian Maier’s work has been exhibited
in Denmark, Norway, the U.S., Germany, France, the
U.K., the Netherlands, Hungary, Italy, Belgium,
Russia, Canada, and Sweden.
• In their book, A Sociology of Mental Health and
Illness, David Pilgrim and Anne Rogers state that
“some mental traits or states labeled as disorders
can also involve above-average creativity, non-
conformity, goal-striving, meticulousness, or
empathy,” characteristics that Vivian appeared to
possess.
• Two years before she died, Vivian Maier failed to
pay the rent on her storage space. Her negatives,
prints, audio recordings, and 8mms were auctioned.
John Maloof purchased a box of 30,000 of her
negatives, which he initially intended for a history
book he was writing about the Chicago
neighborhood of Portage Park.
• Co-director Charlie Siskel, nephew of film critic
Gene Siskel, was a producer on both Bowling for
Columbine and Religulous. Siskel worked as a lawyer
before he began filmmaking.
• After moving to Chicago in 1956, Maier became a
nanny to the Gensburg family who gave her access
to a private darkroom, thus enabling her to print
photographs. After leaving the Gensburgs in the
1970s, she no longer had access to a dark room, and
her rolls of undeveloped photos began to
accumulate.

1. Read “Bystander: A History of Photography,” co-written by Joel Meyerowitz, who is interviewed in the film.

2. Consider giving to the Vivian Maier Scholarship Fund, which aims to provide opportunities and resources for female
students and is managed by the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC).

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3. To become a street photographer, you must overcome the fear of approaching the people on the street. Speak to
those you photograph in order to build confidence.

4. Street Photography Magazine offers a platform for amateur street photographers to learn and exhibit.

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