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Marcus-SanDiego
12-01-2011, 08:44 AM
I bought this book today. Looking forward to reading it. I thought that some of you might be interested in it, too.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1576875776/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=zhpcom-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1576875776

Book description:

A good street photographer must be possessed of many talents: an eye for detail, light, and composition; impeccable timing; a populist or humanitarian outlook; and a tireless ability to constantly shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot and never miss a moment. It is hard enough to find these qualities in trained photographers with the benefit of schooling and mentors and a community of fellow artists and aficionados supporting and rewarding their efforts. It is incredibly rare to find it in someone with no formal training and no network of peers.

Yet Vivian Maier is all of these things, a professional nanny, who from the 1950s until the 1990s took over 100,000 photographs worldwide—from France to New York City to Chicago and dozens of other countries—and yet showed the results to no one. The photos are amazing both for the breadth of the work and for the high quality of the humorous, moving, beautiful, and raw images of all facets of city life in America’s post-war golden age.

It wasn’t until local historian John Maloof purchased a box of Maier’s negatives from a Chicago auction house and began collecting and championing her marvelous work just a few years ago that any of it saw the light of day. Presented here for the first time in print, Vivian Maier: Street Photographer collects the best of her incredible, unseen body of work.

C Withers Media
12-01-2011, 09:21 AM
Very familiar with Vivian Maier. Be prepared to be amazed by simplicity and fundamental use of light.

imola red zhp
12-01-2011, 09:24 AM
Black and white photos awesome era covered

pleasecorrupt
12-01-2011, 12:45 PM
i've heard about her. didnt a random guy buy a boxes of her undeveloped film @ an estate sale and then introduced her to the world?

jreyes19
12-01-2011, 12:57 PM
^yep thats the story
sad she got popular after her death in 2009 :(

Marcus-SanDiego
12-01-2011, 02:30 PM
Scheduled for delivery December 13. Amazing how long it takes for this one. Oh, well. Looking forward to it.

danewilson77
12-01-2011, 03:28 PM
Dang. I ordered Christmas gifts from Amazon, and got them in one day. The next day....and I ordered them at night....

C Withers Media
12-01-2011, 04:14 PM
You should order t-shirts.... :caseyshrug

danewilson77
12-01-2011, 04:15 PM
You should order t-shirts.... :caseyshrug

Been there....done that. :)

Marcus-SanDiego
12-01-2011, 04:47 PM
Usually it is two day shipping. But for whatever reason, this particular book takes longer. Regardless, looking forward to reading it.

C Withers Media
12-01-2011, 05:39 PM
Been there....done that. :)

I was making reference to the amount of time it took my shirts to ship.

danewilson77
12-01-2011, 05:43 PM
I was making reference to the amount of time it took my shirts to ship.

Yup.

HTC Thunderbolt+TT

Marcus-SanDiego
12-14-2011, 03:27 PM
Got a note from Amazon.com regarding this book. Delivery has been delayed until December 19. I can only think that they've been overwhelmed with demand.

Anyone else order this? Anyone else get a note about delayed delivery?

Marcus-SanDiego
12-28-2011, 06:19 AM
Finally got my book yesterday. I looked at it last night.

My opinion on Vivian Maier: Street Photographer (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1576875776/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=zhpcom-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1576875776)

Vivian Maier was a talented photographer. She was not classically trained. She had no mentors. She is self taught. She shot candids (mostly) but also did posed portraits. In a nutshell, she was a street photographer, catching moments that are hard to capture.

Mostly, to me at least, her greatest attribute is her eye. She had a great eye that captured the moment very well. I love shooting candids, so the pictures in this book are right up my alley. Her camera, a Rolleiflex, looked similar to this:

http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6048/6265551960_d1be3e959c_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/cwithersmedia/6265551960/)
Baby Rollei 4x4 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/cwithersmedia/6265551960/) by C Withers Media (http://www.flickr.com/people/cwithersmedia/), on Flickr

The hardback book was about $26. The reprints don't look so great in the book, though, because the publisher looks to have cheaped out on quality. Still, for $26, you shouldn't expect a whole lot more. If you want higher quality, you should expect to pay at least double.

Overall, I was pleased with the pictures and the book. What's more, Maier is inspirational. Not only does the book inspire me to shoot, it also makes me realize that, if you have an eye for photography, and you're willing to put in the time to perfect your craft (she took more than 100,000 pictures), you can turn out some solid work.

For $26, this is a book that I'd recommend. I think you'll be impressed with Maier's work.