Vivian Maier developed The untold story of the photographer nanny

Review by Booklist Review

The enigmatic Vivian Maier (1926--2009), her exceptional photographs, and the controversies ignited by the discovery and dissemination of her work have been explored in previous books, a spate of articles and social media posts, and two "dueling" documentaries. Marks enters the arena with a biography built on zealously assiduous research, illuminating in fresh detail the many facets of Maier's unusual life, from her fractured family and youth in New York City and the French Alps to her remarkable independence and devotion to photography to her family's struggle with mental illness that caught up to her in the form of a hoarding disorder that tragically derailed her otherwise purposefully controlled life. Marks opens doors and fits scattered pieces together, tracking Maier on her travels and moves from household to household, the evolution of her distinct aesthetic and themes, and the rescue of her world-class work from forfeited storage lockers in Chicago, illustrating her precise narrative and thoughtful analysis with nearly 400 of Maier's stunning, witty, and unnerving portraits, self-portraits, and street photographs, many published here for the first time. Marks presents Maier in all her complexity, vision, and mastery as "fearless," a "fervent advocate for civil rights," an "ardent feminist," and a covert yet, ultimately, resounding artist who "sought to capture the reality of the human condition with an absolute absence of judgment."

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.

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Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

With the keen eye of a detective and persistence of a genealogist, researcher Marks unravels the complicated story of "nanny wonder" Vivian Maier (1926--2009), one of the 20th century's most enigmatic street photographers. When Maier's photographs first came to light in 2007, she quickly became a phenomenon in the art world for her "keen grasp of the serendipitous choreography of daily life," and, until now, her mysterious personal history. Here, Marks paints the "full picture" of Maier's life, from a fraught childhood with her single mother in France, to her teenage years in New York City in the 1930s, and, later, her 40-year avocation as a photographer, which she juggled alongside her job as a caregiver for various families ("Vivian had a foot in each world"). Drawing from her extensive access to Maier's archives, Marks vividly evokes a woman full of both tragic and amusing complexities, who struggled with paranoia and a hoarding disorder, was a tireless civil rights advocate, and had as much of an affinity for photographing moments of "human affection" as she did the "oft-ignored elderly." In doing so, the author shines a light on the "intelligence, creativity, passion" behind Maier's preternatural ability to capture "the universality of the human condition." This definitive account will leave readers in awe. (Dec.)

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Review by Library Journal Review

While working as a nanny in mid-20th-century Chicago, Vivian Maier ambled the streets and took some 140,000 photographs that were not discovered until after her death in 2009. She's since become famous, but little was known of her life until former corporate executive Marks devoted her retirement to studying the photographer nanny. Here's the story of someone who fled a family that had some corrosive secrets and who eventually captured extraordinary emotional resonance in her images. With a 40,000-copy first printing and nearly 400 color and black-and-white illustrations throughout.

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Review by Kirkus Book Review

A former corporate executive explores the unconventional life of street photographer Vivian Maier (1926-2009). When Maier died, only two people, John Maloof and Jeffrey Goldstein, knew of the massive collection of brilliant photos she had left behind. The two had stumbled upon her work at a foreclosure auction in Chicago but had little information about her except that she had been a nanny. Marks entered the scene five years later after watching a documentary about the mysterious Maier and immediately "felt compelled to unravel the story that had confounded so many." Drawing on her skills as an amateur genealogist, the author reconstructed Maier's family tree through archival research and then used the mostly unannotated photographs in Maier's collection to piece together her life and to track down and interview the individuals who knew her. The result is a meticulously documented narrative replete with images born of Maier's 40-year love affair with photography. Marks traces her life from her birth in New York to rural France, where she spent her childhood. In 1938, she returned to New York, a city "she barely knew." In telling the story, Marks argues that, contrary to what her employers believed, Maier actually did have ambitions "to launch a professional career." But her sometimes "unwelcoming demeanor and uncompromising nature"--products, Marks speculates, of a dysfunctional family past--and her lack of "credentials [and] connections" likely sabotaged her efforts. While she found temporary happiness as a nanny to the boys who later spread her ashes, her later life was dominated by the hoarding the author believes developed as a result of an emotionally deprived early life and the many displacements she experienced. Compelling and richly detailed, this book sheds new and important light on an intriguing photographer and her singular life. A well-researched and incisive biography of an artist who should be better known. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

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