Maloof purchased some of Maier's negs at a furniture and antique auction and quickly discovered a wealth of unseen talent.
Maier sadly past away in 2009 and little is known about her. She moved to the USA from France in the early 1930's when 11 or 12 and worked as a nanny during the 50's and early 60's. It seems she was always obsessively taking photographs but nobody ever saw them.
Maloof now has more than 100,000 negatives in his collection. He is slowly revealing them to the world whilst she is rapidly becoming renowned as a great previously undiscovered street photographer.
On Saturday, I went to see some of the work which is being exhibited as part of the London Street Photography Festival.
I was slightly disappointed by the curation as I felt like i had seen better shots on the Vivian Maier blog but it's still worth a look.
Details here:
http://londonstreetphotographyfestival.com/diary/vivian-maier-a-life-uncovered
On an aside note, the German Gymnasium is a great building, that in itself is worth a visit too! And after the Exhibition, i recommend cocktails and cheese at the St Pancras Renaissance Hotel, the perfect end to the perfect day.
For more about Maier and to see some more of her images, check out the blog here:
http://vivianmaier.blogspot.com
