For the first time, Belgium is hosting a solo exhibition devoted to self-taught photographer Vivian Maier. A pioneer of street photography, she also created an enormous number of self-portraits. Many of them will be on view this summer at the Centre for Fine Arts.
The exhibition at Bozar presents around 90 of Vivian Maier’s self-portraits, organized into three chapters: shadow self-portraits in which her silhouette takes center stage, reflections in everyday objects, and finally her play with mirrors. The exhibition also features two of Maier’s Super 8 films, offering visitors a cinematic glimpse into the way she saw the world.
Vivian Maier (1926-2009), who was of French and Austro-Hungarian descent, lived and worked as a nanny in New York and Chicago. Driven by a lifelong passion for photography, she captured moments from daily life in these two major American cities. With her camera, she immortalized a colorful cross-section of people from all walks of life.
Her talent went unnoticed during her lifetime. In late 2007, her photographic archives were discovered by real estate agent John Maloof. He immediately recognized the artistic quality of a photographer who had remained anonymous throughout her life. As the archive was cataloged, it gradually became clear that Maier employed a remarkably versatile and complex visual language.
Her archive contains more than 120,000 photographs, Super8 and 16mm films, various recordings, fragmented footage, and an impressive number of undeveloped rolls of film. Since the publication of her photographs and films around ten years ago, Vivian Maier has been posthumously recognized as one of the leading street photographers. She is mentioned alongside such major names as Diane Arbus, Robert Frank, Helen Levitt, and Garry Winogrand.
The self-portrait is a recurring theme throughout Vivian Maier’s body of work. She mastered various photographic techniques to perfection and often experimented with reflections of her face in shop windows or mirrors.
Also highly characteristic is her play with light, shadow, unusual angles, and original framing. Her self-portraits are an act of resistance, a way of claiming her place in the world. Each self-portrait can be seen as proof of her existence in a society in which she remained invisible throughout her life.
Through her many variations on the self-portrait, Maier developed an artistic language of her own. In our current era—when selfies and self-representation occupy such a central place—her pioneering work feels entirely contemporary.
Also explore the collected work of Vivian Maier.
Vivian Maier. The Self-Portrait and Its Double
June 8 through July 21, 2022
Centre for Fine Arts, Brussels
