Man buys 1000s of undeveloped negatives at auction and discovers unknown street artist
When historical hobbyist John Maloof bought a box full of undeveloped negatives at a local auction for $380, he never expected to stumble across one of the most important street photographer of the 20th century. As he was developing the photos he quickly released these were no ordinary snapshots of the fifties and sixties but evocative portraits of the everyday experiences and struggles of all segments of life in and around the big city.
Maloof soon embarked on a journey to find the mysterious photographer. Her name was Vivian Maier, a nanny who kept everything to herself. But John found her too late; Vivian had died in 2009 at 83 years old.
Since then, Vivian Maier’s work has captivated the art world – her pictures gaining international media attention with exhibitions in London, New York, Los Angeles, Oslo and Hamburg. Maloof even made a documentary about Vivian and her work called Finding Vivian Maier, which was released in 2013.
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