Self-Portrait The Artist as the Subject
Vivian Maier, Self-Portrait, Undated
By: Becca Chaffin AH 5780 Winter 2014
Vivian Maier “Well, I suppose nothing is meant to last forever. We have to make room for other people. It’s a wheel. You get on, you have to go to the end. And then somebody has the same opportunity to go to the end and so on.” – Vivian Maier
Born in New York City in 1926, Vivian Maier moved to France until 1951 when she returned to the US to be a nanny. She nannied until the day she died. Unknown by the families she nannied for was the fact that she had begun taking pictures quite regularly, initially developing the film in her bathroom until she had to stop because she switched families. When Maier died in 2009, she left behind over 100,000 negatives from her photographic ventures. Self-portrait, shadows, and strangers on the street were the main subjects she would photograph. The collection of her negatives was purchased at auction by John Maloof.
Self-Portrait (Reflection on Truck), 1972, Wilmette, IL Self-Portrait; October 18, 1953, New York, NY
One of the most difficult parts of identifying and distinguishing one image from another with Maier is that she rarely printed her own images, due to a lack of her own lab, and she did not give the majority of the images dates. Most of the prints in circulation were not printed by Maier at all.
Self-Portrait, Undated
John Maloof, along with Charlie Siskel have created a documentary movie entitled “Finding Vivian Maier” which chronicled her life through photographs, film clips, and interviews with the people in her life who thought they knew her. The movie doesn’t focus on a single aspect of her photography, it’s more of an overall look at Maier’s work as a whole. This film has been credited with bringing the phenomenon of street art into the spotlight and sparked a new culture around it.
In 2008 Maier fell on a patch of ice and hit her head in downtown Chicago. Although she was expected to make a full recovery, her health began to deteriorate, forcing Maier into a nursing home. She passed away a short time later in April of 2009, only a few weeks before her mass amounts of negatives would be purchased at auction, showing off the unknown talent from this Mary Poppins-esque nanny and photographer. Images and Information: Maloof, John. “ABOUT VIVIAN MAIER.” Vivian Maier. Maloof Collection, Ltd,, 1 Jan. 2014. Web. 8 Apr. 2014. <http://www.vivianmaier.com/>.
Self-Portrait, 1955
Cindy Sherman “I feel I’m anonymous in my work. When I look at the pictures, I never see myself; they aren’t self-portraits. Sometimes I disappear.” - Cindy Sherman
Cindy Sherman was born in 1954 and grew up in Long Island. She discovered her love of photography when she attended Buffalo State College and took up painting. She wasn’t fond of how limiting the medium was however, and she turned to photography.
Untitled #335 (2000)
One of the biggest differences between Sherman and Maier is that not only does Sherman really want her photographs to be seen, but even in her self portrait series, she’s not typically portraying herself. Maier only ever photographs herself as she sees herself. Sherman makes a theatrical production out of every shoot.
Untitled, #359 (2000)
From 1989 on, Sherman focused on creating characters based on stereotypes and characters that had gone through very specific life events. She put herself into all of these characters using costuming and theatrical makeup.
Untitled, #105 (2000)
Images and Information: Hussar, Michael. “Cindy Sherman.” Classic Photographers. Classic Photographers, 18 Feb. 2011. Web. 10 Apr. 2014. <http://www.classic-photographers.com/photographer-cindy-sherman/>.
Untitled #352 (2000) The inspiration behind this series doesn’t seem to have anything to do with self-portrait at all. In fact, it’s hard to even classify her “self-portraits” as that because there is such an absence of her own personality and a very faint, almost unnoticeable likeness to herself. That seems to be her overall goal though and she really accomplishes that well.
Becca Chaffin Curator The idea of self-portraiture has always been very interesting to me. The inner workings of another person’s mind and how they see themselves can be a very interesting aspect of their personal lives to look at. Some people, like Vivian Maier, like to photograph themselves just how they see themselves. Others, like Cindy Sherman, aren’t interested in the photograph being truly his/herself, and in fact just use their body as a means of communicating that idea into their art.
I chose to look at these two very different artists because they seem to sum up what makes a self-portrait into a real piece of art. Maier’s Simplistic style in comparison to Sherman’s theatrical approach almost tell more about the artist than what the observer might typically think. Sherman seems to be hiding her identity while Maier definitely isn’t. It’s an amazing comparison and one that makes for a great discussion.