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  • The Paris Review

    The Life and Afterlife of Vivian Maier

    by Pamela Bannos Nov 20, 2017 4 minutes

    Vivian Maier, 1958. (Image from the Ron Slattery negative collection.)

    The following is an excerpt from Vivian Maier: A Photographer’s Life and Afterlife, which was published last month.

    There are many ways to get the wrong picture about Vivian Maier. Call her a nanny, as if that was her identity, instead of a photographer. Call her just a Chicagoan or just a Frenchwoman, instead of a born Manhattanite and self- styled European. Call her Vivian, as if you know her well. Call her a mystery or an enigma, as if no one ever knew her, or ever could.

    To get the right picture, look at her squarely, as she would look at you: on her own terms, from her own evidence of who

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