I found this video on Reddit’s Photography section. John Malouf, A young realtor, found a box of negatives at an estate auction, and bought it because he thought it could help him with pictures for a book about a north Chicago Neighborhood. Instead, he found Vivian’s photography. He found her name in one of the boxes, googled her, and found that she’d died only a few days prior.
Discoverer John didn’t know what he had, but after he posted a few on a street photography blog, hundreds of emails arrived. He has over a hundred thousand pictures that he’s scanning in, and although only a fraction are done, one thing is clear: we missed out on one of the greats while she lived. Posthumously, she’s had shows all over the world now.
I think there’s a lesson to draw from this. Artists, photographers, makers of all kinds, heed my word: publish your work. Vivian Maier died at eighty-three years old after slipping on some ice. As far as we can tell, nobody had seen her work until now. How many attics will be discovered containing untold masterpieces, their creators long gone? Will anyone bother searching your hard drives once you pass?
I found this video on Reddit’s Photography section. John Malouf, A young realtor, found a box of negatives at an estate auction, and bought it because he thought it could help him with pictures for a book about a north Chicago Neighborhood. Instead, he found Vivian’s photography. He found her name in one of the boxes, googled her, and found that she’d died only a few days prior.
Discoverer John didn’t know what he had, but after he posted a few on a street photography blog, hundreds of emails arrived. He has over a hundred thousand pictures that he’s scanning in, and although only a fraction are done, one thing is clear: we missed out on one of the greats while she lived. Posthumously, she’s had shows all over the world now.
I think there’s a lesson to draw from this. Artists, photographers, makers of all kinds, heed my word: publish your work. Vivian Maier died at eighty-three years old after slipping on some ice. As far as we can tell, nobody had seen her work until now. How many attics will be discovered containing untold masterpieces, their creators long gone? Will anyone bother searching your hard drives once you pass?
