My dear DUer's - you must see this story about the discovery of a photography genius nanny!!!

[devilgrrl]

Some guy in Chicago bought a box of photo negatives from the 50's & 60's and discovered that her work was brilliant!!!

And so will you!!!! Especially you photography fans!!!! ;-)

It will take your breath away!!!!




Watch the story here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWEDOnBfDUI

Here's the link to her blog: http://vivianmaier.blogspot.com/

[snagglepuss]

1. OMG. This is unbelievable. What a find. I love these images from this era.

Incredible images. It makes me sick to think these could have been easily lost forever. Thanks for posting.

[roguevalley]

8. I remember then. everyone dressed up. you didn't leave your

house without a hat, purse and gloves. Hats with tiny veils and the like. Great find.

[pansypoo53219]

2. one of my favorite things at estate sales

is looking for photographs or slide boxes. so far, not great, but i just blogged one of my late 1800's/early 1900's old photo albums. some of the photos were so nice and i think i just realized it documented a spring ice dam + flooding. my great-uncle george was a very good photographer. amazing what nice photos you could get w/ b/w. my family doesn't get it. but i have found some really cool photos.

[myrna minx]

3. I actually thought this was a hoax, but now I'm not so sure.

Thanks for posting.

[Hannah Bell]

4. I wonder. I found the person who found the photographs saying she

had been unable to locate the people who placed the photographer's obit in the chicago paper in 2009: the chicago trib had "dead-ends on the people who placed the ad. They gave me an address that doesn't exist and a phone number that is disconnected."

Also, she says the woman was poor -- but the neighborhood she supposedly died in is wealthy.

She's first identified as French Jew -- then French Catholic -- then French anti-Catholic.

Photography wasn't a cheap hobby in the 50s, and her camera isn't cheap:



Just a little too serendipitous, it seems to me.

[DrDan]

9. I wish you hadn't said that -

I was enjoying the tale - but now, thinking back on it - I guess I must agree.

I did question a nanny with "several" rolleiflex's - those are/were quite expensive. And all those books.

But those pics sure are worthy.

[woo me with science]

12. Plus, John "Maloof," spelled backwards, is very close to "fool 'em."

They are stunning photographs, whoever took them.

[WinkyDink]

17. Probably a variation of "Malouf," a legit name.

[woo me with science]

21. My post was

:sarcasm:

[Bluenorthwest]

13. Was she not a Nanny? Most nannies would be poor and yet

live in very wealthy areas, for they are 'live in' servants. This also rather easily explains access to equipment better than she might otherwise have had. Those particular puzzle pieces uphold rather than discredit this story.

[SoCalDem]

15. and her rich empployer may have given her the cameras to photograph the kids

Those photos may have been given to them, & the others she kept for herself:)

[Hannah Bell]

22. she was still a nanny when she died? because it was her address at death i spoke of.

[Oilwellian]

18. I can understand your skepticism

We live in cynical times. I however believe this story and can see a woman who worked as a nanny her entire life, having the ability to devote her earnings to her love for photography. She didn't have many of the regular expenses that most of us have. I also find nothing strange about her dying in a wealthy neighborhood. Most nannies live in wealthy neighborhoods. It's highly possible a family she took care of for many years, took care of her in her elderly years. Hopefully they will one day go public and share their knowledge of this remarkable woman.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

23. Is there anything you don't think is a conspiracy?

[Hannah Bell]

24. lol.

[madmax]

29. I understand... ;-) nt

[DrDan]

5. what an amazing story

(oh yeah - that Chevy is a '56, not a '57 - but the picture is beautiful)

[lamp_shade]

6. Thank you. I'm fascinated. Bookmarked.

[Lucinda]

7. Amazing photos. Thanks so much for the link!

:hi:

[Delphinus]

10. I know!

I've been telling everyone I can - these are simply beautiful!

[malaise]

11. Beautiful indeed

Thank you

Rec

[The Backlash Cometh]

14. Very cool. Thank you.

[InkAddict]

16. K&R with pleasure!!!

Kick

[bigmonkey]

19. A brilliant woman artist who crafted her life to support her art.

She didn't have money, so she found a way to do it. John Maloof, who has many of the photos, is still in the process of scanning them, and is years away from finishing the 100k + negatives that he has. It's impossible for this to be a hoax, unless you had one of the most brilliant photographers of the 20th century devoting their life to the hoax.

I question folks who think that a single woman couldn't have done this by herself, and instead reach for fraud as an explanation. You might want to look at your assessment again.

[Contrary1]

20. A few years ago, my cousin and his wife were at an auction house...

They were digging through some boxes, and found stacks of photos of our own family! Mostly from the 20's and 30's, there were pictures none of us had ever seen before, including several of my father as a teenager.

Needless to say, he bought them and passed them around to family members. If he had not been at the right place and the right time, these photographs would have been lost forever.

You just never know what's out there.

Thanks for posting this remarkable find.

[nyc 4 Biden]

25. old graffiti

[Canuckistanian]

26. Wow, gorgeous shots

She really has a talent for photographing spontaneous street scenes.

Almost like a kinder, gentler Weegee.

And technically good, as well. Nothing out of focus, badly framed or poorly-exposed.

[stevedeshazer]

27. +1

[progressoid]

28. I love K&Recing posts like this.

So much better than much of the depressing political stuff.