Pamela Bannos on Vivian Maier
THIS WEEK on the GWA Podcast, we interview author, artist, writer, and academic, Pamela L Bannos on the very private yet supremely inquisitive street photographer who spent her days working as a nanny, VIVIAN MAIER!!\n\nMaier (1926\u20132009) was street photographer who has been compared to the likes of Helen Levitt or Diane Arbus. But here\u2019s the thing: despite taking pictures incessantly and amassing more than 100,000 negatives, she never published or exhibited her work in her lifetime. This is one of the most fascinating stories in art history. \n\nMaier\u2019s photographs reveal a woman who had empathy for her subjects \u2013 from children to the elderly \u2013 and who were often unaware of her presence. She famously worked with a Rolliflex camera which she would use for several decades, allowing for her signature square format, but which didn\u2019t need to be brought up to one\u2019s eye \u2013 enhancing even further how she could catch her subjects off guard. When asked about her occupation by a man she once knew, she\u2019d say \u201cI\u2019m sort of a spy\u2026 I\u2019m the mystery woman.\u201d \n\nTracing the people, politics, and landscape of mid to late 20th century North America, Maier\u2019s extensive oeuvre recorded life as it passed her by. And here\u2019s the thing, because she never exhibited or published her work during her lifetime, she was predominantly known for her primary role as a nanny to children in the Chicago area. So much remains to be missing, which is why I can\u2019t wait to speak to Pamela, who has looked at tens of thousands of these images; traced Maier\u2019s footsteps from the US to France, and delved into the archive in search of everything we might know about the photographer. \n\nPamela Bannos is a professor at Northwestern University, and the author of Vivian Maier: A Photographer\u2019s Life and Afterlife, 2017: http://vivianmaierproject.com/. Here is the TV interview of her discussing the book 10 min: https://news.wttw.com/2017/10/19/new-book-focuses-life-work-mysterious-photographer-vivian-maier \n\nFURTHER LINKS!\n\nFinding Vivian Maier: https://vimeo.com/452963941 \nHer official website by Maloof - including portfolio of pictures: https://www.vivianmaier.com/about-vivian-maier/ \nNYT review of the book by Pamela Bannos: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/31/books/review-vivian-maier-biography-pamela-bannos.html \nRoberta Smith on Vivian Maier: https://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/20/arts/design/vivian-maier.html?_r=0 \nThe New Yorker on Maloof film: https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/vivian-maier-and-the-problem-of-difficult-women \nWSJ: https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052970204879004577110884090494826 \n\nFollow us:\nKaty Hessel: @thegreatwomenartists / @katy.hessel\nResearch assistant: Viva Ruggi\nSound editing by Mikaela Carmichael \nArtwork by @thisisaliceskinner\nMusic by Ben Wetherfield\n\nhttps://www.thegreatwomenartists.com/\n\nTHIS EPISODE IS GENEROUSLY SUPPORTED BY OCULA: https://ocula.com/