Finding Vivian Maier is really two documentaries in one. Part of it is devoted to the process of how an artist can become popular and widely known—you need a devoted, enthusiastic white guy, in this case, Jeff Maloof, to advocate for you. The majority of it is devoted to the titular artist’s overlooked life that would have evaporated without Maloof’s random attention and adoration. Depending on your temperament, you may find this frustrating or a time saving bonus. If you’re interested in photography or saw the dreadful Garry Winogrand: All Things are Photographable hoping for better.
I actually didn’t know anything about this photographer, and I have no idea how Finding Vivian Maier ended up in my queue. I came to the documentary a complete blank slate so I enjoyed relating to Maloof as he discovers her work and tries to learn more about her. When the documentary shifts to a more biographical tone, it takes a bit longer to get settled in. We’re thrown into the deep end fairly early meeting scores of random people who knew her and hearing their frequently contradictory thoughts about her without having a touchstone of their relationship to her and the other interviewees and their credibility. Once I had that information, it was useful to rewatch parts of the documentary again to attempt to fully gain a sense of whom Maier was.
I actually enjoy that Finding Vivian Maier doesn’t create a documentary fictional technique of making the viewer feel as if it is fully possible to know the subject. There is a level of transparency by recreating the real life phenomenon of never truly knowing someone, especially someone who was deliberately inscrutable in life and now deceased. It is impossible, and I like that the narrative structure of the film reflected it. I could understand if viewers are turned off and feel confused.
Simply based on the body language of the interviewees that knew her, I anticipated fairly early during Finding Vivian Maier what kind of person she was and her experiences. I was surprised that critics were concerned about the ethics of devoting a documentary to an intensely private individual. I approached the work from a completely different perspective. When the expert talking heads commented on the brilliance of her work and wondered how she never was a hit, I audibly scoffed, “You wouldn’t have talked to her if she was in front of you now!” Anyone who tells you that life is a meritocracy and that you will only be judged by your work is a liar. I immediately placed her in the same category as Kusama and Gertrude Bell with Maier obviously being the least successful in the group. A woman with excellent work is always at a disadvantage, but a woman suffering from any level of mental illness and lacking the ability to confirm to societal gender norms will lack the necessary social lubrication to advance without tremendous difficulty and effort. Any artist’s success depends on networking and social standing, which Maier failed to possess.
Finding Vivian Maier reveals that while the artist’s life was private, she wanted her work to be public she just never knew how. Talent in one area does not necessarily translate to an ability to market oneself. Her early attempts were unsuccessful so she just kept working for herself. I don’t know how viewers could miss that detail in the film. I also have a theory that woman devoted to work without reward and who have a mental disability will experience an exacerbation of the effects of that disability and become less functional in society. Maier’s day job was as a nanny. It didn’t surprise me that her charges found her more abusive depending as she got older. On one hand, her day job gave her the freedom to pursue what she loved, but on the other hand, she may have felt that it presented her identity to the world in a way that led others to underestimate her and led to additional frustration that exhibited itself in her relationship with her employers and children.
In contrast, before Finding Vivian Maier, Maloof is essentially nobody in the art world. I’m not even sure if he was into photography before discovering Maier’s work. He is a simply a fan and one that is determined to evangelize and make others a fan too. I thought his comparison of Maier with Winogrand was brilliant. Maier and Winogrand are hoarders whose work gets developed posthumously, but their lives and the judgment on their lives and work are completely different. (Yes, I know that Winogrand was also rewarded when he was alive.) I can’t emphasize enough that Maloof’s success in marking Maier’s work when he has zero artistic talent, was not already a part of the artistic community and just wanted it to be and everyone agreed with him tells us just as much about why Maier never stood a chance. Some people’s enthusiasm and compulsions get rewarded, and others don’t. Maloof is a Maier zealot, but no one thinks that he is crazy, and he gets rewarded for just deciding that something needs to happen. His tastes are validated and respected at a level that Maier never experienced once in her lifetime.
Comparing and contrasting the lives of Maier and Maloof is what makes Finding Vivian Maier a fascinating documentary. Without explicitly commenting on the disparity of how society treats men and women, it shows it. Neither Maloof nor Winogrand are characterized as hoarders, but Winogrand took tons of photographs and never developed them. Maloof literally has bought and kept all of Maier’s stuff. When she has it, it is junk, but Maloof is a collector. I find this phenomenon astonishing. I’m not trying to denigrate Maloof or Winogrand or diminish their accomplishments, but I think that it is easier for us to assess and diagnose women in a way that the same behavior exhibited by men receives a compliment or is rationalized away then hastily dismissed or excused. Trust that sis had serious issues. She didn’t cash her tax refunds! She physically abused children, but let’s be real. Winogrand was a pedophile because he slept with a fifteen-year old girl then later married her.
I would highly recommend Finding Vivian Maier even though you need to be seriously alert to comprehend and enjoy it since it often shifts focus, and there are scores of interviewees. I don’t think that was a sign of poor organization. I attributed the structure to reflecting the reality and complications of life and felt that it added texture and nuance to a viewer’s experience by providing a meta commentary about filmmaking and researching instead of pretending to be omniscient and an authority on its subject.