Vivian Maier is one of the most popular nanny's of the 1980s. Through-out her entire life time she took thousands of photos which no one was aware off. It was only until her death were they found she was hailed as a key member in the 20th century American photography.
For Maier, it was all about capturing as much expression and feeling as possible. For the most part, she shot from chest height so that those being photographed would still be look straight ahead at her- making eye contact with a person instead of the camera. Along with this many of her most famous shots are those of portraits looking directly at the camera- this makes people feel instantly connected.
Vivian Maier took these photographs is a variety of places after in the post-war golden age. They can be described as raw, humorous and moving. She, like many other street photographers, home in on capturing the realistic side the people. This requires a sense of trust that the pictures are staged and, when the pictures are taken, people don't know or don't care they are being taken. What interesting about Maiers work is that the portraits taken still manage to show as much emotion as possible with the character in the photo knowing a picture is being taken.
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