Eye to eye Photographs by Vivian Maier

*Starred Review* The exceptional story of masterful nanny street photographer Vivian Maier (1926-2009) continues to unfold, entrancing viewers and readers everywhere. The documentary film Finding Vivian Maier (2014) provides a wider lens on her life, and now the superbly gifted writing and photo restoration duo, Richard Cahan and Michael Williams, bring out their second Maier book, following the revelatory Vivian Maier: Out of the Shadows (2012). Here they publish for the first time 100 pristine and electrifying portraits of strangers the rapturously observant Maier encountered by chance and swiftly connected with eye-to-eye. Attaining particular rapport with the young and the old, Maier elicited smiles and scowls as she courageously roamed, cameras around her neck, streets and byways in New York City, Chicago, Florida, the French countryside, Malaysia, Thailand, and Yemen. Cahan and Williams suggest that Maier's work as a domestic enhanced her ability to astutely, intimately, and forthrightly scrutinize people and their worlds. The longer you gaze at these sumptuously printed black-and-white photographs, taken from 1949 into the 1970s, the more you realize how brilliantly and vibrantly composed they are and how captivated resolute and relentless Maier was by the power of faces and by people's profound relationships with their surroundings. Maier's portraits, radiant flashes of mutual recognition, are breathtaking works of art.--Seaman, Donna Copyright 2010 Booklist

Maier, who died in 2009, has recently become an unlikely art star. Championed for her remarkable photographs of city life in mid-century America and fetishized for her choice to work as a nanny in the Chicago suburbs, Maier and her lifelong photographic endeavor, which produced hundreds of thousands of negatives left largely unseen until her death, have given rise to a mini-cottage industry of books, exhibitions, profiles, and a hit documentary, all of which explore the known facts and unsolvable mysteries surrounding her. Maier shot mostly with a twin-lens Rolleiflex held at hip-height, which allowed her to capture the world as she saw it inconspicuously. Not everyone noticed she was taking pictures, but sometimes people looked back. This monograph, culled from the Jeffrey Goldstein Collection, collects images in which subjects reciprocated Maier's gaze: a young boy peers through the round window of his balaclava; a gold-toothed mother suckles her child; a hoary French farmer holds a flower in his mouth; a grandma in horn rims purses her bow lips; a girl smiles widely from the recesses of her woolly hood. Seen together, these pictures of strangers speak volumes about the true talent of the photographer, especially her ability to capture the instant, temporary intimacy that blooms when we choose to look into each other's eyes. (July) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Since her death in 2009, Vivian Maier has become internationally famous because of her heartbreaking story and brilliant photography. Virtually invisible to others, she died alone and in poverty but left a wealth of photographs-more than 100,000 images. For over a half-century Maier wandered the streets of New York and Chicago and journeyed through Asia and elsewhere making incredible photographs. Few knew of Maier's pursuit during her lifetime, and her great talent went unrecognized. But since the body of her life's work-a treasure trove of prints and negatives-was rescued from a storage locker and thrift shop, she has been acknowledged as a great artist. To date, three excellent collections of Maier's photographs have been published (Vivian Maier: Out of the Shadows; Vivian Maier: Street Photographer; and Vivian Maier: Self-Portraits). In this title, Cahan and Williams, authors of Out of the Shadows, have again followed a thematic approach, this time gathering informal portraits in which Maier has caught the eye of at least one person in the frame. While these photographs may not rise to the artistry and unbelievable originality of Maier's street images and self-portraits, they do offer touching glimpses into the lives of those portrayed and a quiet sense of humanity. The authors contribute a short, insightful introduction but otherwise allow the artwork to speak for itself. Verdict Anyone who appreciates photography, especially incomparable photographs, will love Eye to Eye.-Raymond Bial, First Light Photography, Urbana, IL (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.