Finding Talent ~ and Mystery

from Maloof Collection Ltd.

A couple of years ago, I posted a link to a story about a woman named Vivian Maier (1926-2009) (http://somanyinterestingthings.blogspot.com/2012/09/wit-and-surprise-and-playful-spirit.html). It's a totally intriguing and fascinating tale about how, in 2007, a young man bid on a box of old negatives, discovered the very talented young woman to whom they belonged, and set out to preserve her work and learn who she was. There are actually two stories here: that of the young man, John Maloof's, tireless search and work cataloging the thousands of photographs and that of Vivian Maier, a very singular French-American nanny who took amazing photographs but kept them to herself and whom most of her acquaintances described simply as "eccentric." Maloof has a wonderful and very detailed website explaining it all and exhibiting her work: http://www.vivianmaier.com/
   Maloof's documentary, Finding Vivian Maier, tells the story well. We follow him from the auction house and step by step as he uncovers one clue after another, interviewing those who knew her (or thought they did), to try to find out exactly who she was, while at the same time going through her massive collection of negatives and mementos (video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2o2nBhQ67Zc