So my mother and I got lost this day in Edinburgh. Well, not lost as in we didn't know where we were, but definitely lost as in we didn't know where we were going. We had set out from our apartment looking for a farmer's market (if I remember correctly) and somehow we trundled down through the university district and into the large park, through this large park and beyond into one of the southern neighborhoods. We didn't find the farmer's market, at least not until we found out we were heading in the wrong direction and reversed course, then we found it after much pleasant strolling back. We did find this beautiful park with its blossoming trees. We also found an awesome coffee shop (Black Medicine Coffee, Katie make a note) that Wendi had written down on a list of places I should stop. I didn't think we would make it as it had seemed to be well off our beaten path. It turned out to be quite close to this little misguided expedition.
I just finished writing my artist statement for my Paris book, in which I mentioned the importance of a photographer's feet and their ability to get them to the places where the photos are located, both in a planned and unplanned manner. I find more of my photos through wandering and exploration than I do when I know exactly where to go, and I like it that way. So in that light, this mildly-lost little trek of ours this pleasant spring morning was quite perfect.
And with this image we shall transition to the lighter, brighter, more colorful side of Edinburgh for a short while.
Tags: Hasselblad Hasselblad 500C Edinburgh Scotland UK Europe film spring blossoming square trees The Meadows wandering morning walks bipedal locomotion color seasonal Blue Moon Camera
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A particularly windless evening in Edinburgh and some cooperative artificial lighting provided by a street lamp and my own nocturnal wanderings all helped combine to create this image.
Spring happens, even in the dark.
Tags: Hasselblad Hasselblad 500C film square night urban city Edinburgh Scotland Edinburgh Castle UK Europe cityscape blossoms analog The city held its breath for this one Blue Moon Camera
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... about that castle on the hill is embodied by Edinburgh Castle.
Tags: Edinburgh Scotland Edinburgh Castle UK Europe film analog sunset Hasselblad Hasselblad 500C square old world once again, the trees have the best view Blue Moon Camera
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This photo has nothing to do with Vivian Maier, but this post does.
The Basil Hallward Gallery at Powell's is hosting a show of her work this month, with an artist talk to be given this Thursday at 6:30. Perhaps, "artist" talk is the wrong word, as Vivian herself won't be speaking... but I get ahead of myself.
Who is Vivian Maier? Nobody really knows. She was born February 1st, 1926. She lived most of her life in Chicago, working as a nanny. She was a bit reclusive, never married nor had children. She died in 2009. She was an avid photographer. Some 100,000 of her negatives (many as undeveloped rolls of film) were purchased in 2007 by a fellow named John Maloof (it will not be him speaking at Powell's, nor is this show based on his collection, but a different collection of her work) from an auction house after they had taken possession of them from a storage facility after Vivian had failed to make payments on the space.
Much of the work is street photography, much of it Chicago, much of it from the decades of the 50's through 70's. The work, without question, is lovely. At some times warm and empathetic, at other times a bit more distant, but no less engaging.
Her story is almost like a fairy tale in a way. Or a story of paradise lost (but doesn't it all tend to become paradise once we have lost it?). Or maybe it is paradise found, at least that is how the world of photography is treating it, and I am not sure quite why. It is almost like we were hungering for something like a Vivian Maier. And it cannot just be the story of her obscurity, discovery and Mr. Maloof finally identifying her and tracking her down only to find she had died just days previously. There is a quality to the work that just isn't easily found these days. Perhaps it is because of the subject matter. We are drawn by the notion of the "good old days", even when that grass wasn't as green as we always think it was.
I think her meteoric rise does have something to do with the story though. I think it strikes a chord in many of us photographers, the fable of toiling away at our art to be near-magically discovered one day. Or the belief that the work of our photographic lives will continue to carry meaning even once our mortal lives come to an end.
Or maybe it is that in this age where everyone is connected digitally, we can tweet, text, e-mail, facebook, tumble, digg, pin, and instamatic all our friendships down to a digital shadow of what connection once meant, maybe some of us photographers hunger to make work that touches audiences, moves them, connects them to us, in a way that Vivian's work has done.
Of course, it would seem that Vivian herself wasn't interested in that connection. She never showed anyone her photography. She was a bit of a loner and a keep-your-distance type of woman. Without a doubt she had a voice to speak with, but it apparently carried no further than herself, her subject and her camera. Maybe Vivian never wanted that audience, or maybe she was all the audience she needed. Perhaps this is something to consider too, especially in comparison to today's world where it is common practice to not only barrage your audience with dozens, if not hundreds of images at a time, but then to post the same stuff across Flickr, Facebook, Tumblr, 500px, and every other social site to insure maximum saturation in this already saturated world of imagery.
Maybe the answer is there is no answer at all, just a bunch of questions to ponder and consider. I don't even know how I feel about Vivian Maier. I mean, I love the work, but am uneasily uncertain about the story. Is it's popularity just a combination of fad and sensationalism? Will we still care about her in five years or ten? How long, after all, can a photographer's work survive their death? I don't know the answer to this either. Nor do I care to need to know any of these answers.
Ultimately, what it all comes down to, as it often should, is that her photos move me, and for that reason (and a touch of curiosity) I'll be there Thursday evening.
In case anyone else is interested, the talk begins at 7:30pm in the Basil Hallward gallery up on the fifth floor.
If you are curious to know more:
The official website
The original Flickr discussion of their discovery
Tags: pinhole Zero Image Zero 2000 film landscape spring blossoms Edinburgh Scotland UK Self portrait faded trees square The Meadows parks Blue Moon Camera
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The Scott Monument as the last light of the day hits it. My mom and I were out on another hike to... somewhere, I forget just where now and we caught the monument like this. I really wanted to go up it, it wasn't all that expensive, but our schedule just never really freed up the room. That's ok, I like to routinely leave some things undone in places I visit. Gives me good reasons to go back. So now I have the Scott Monument and the Firth of Forth Bridge to lure me back to Edinburgh some day.
Take a stroll yourself.
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