Vivian- What Have They Done?

I just got my copy of Vivian Maier- Street Photographer. I'm sure Mr. Maloof had the best of intentions here, and no one can ever belittle the importance and significance of discovering and exposing her work to the photographic community at large. This was supposed to be the long awaited tribute in print to Vivian Maier- photography's purposely unknown genius of her time. Instead, Powerhouse has done her a great disservice.

Quite simply, the book is a travesty- her work looks better online than in the reproductions in this book! That's not the way it's supposed to work. One naturally expects the quality of the images to be unleashed and spring to life with the more subtle expanse of tonal values that good print reproduction allows. And yet, these reproductions are unduly harsh, dark, devoid of shadow detail and devoid of life- and despite their contrast, still manage to fall flat! The sepia tone (not reproduced above) does not help. The cold/neutral grays online make her photographs feel current and alive; the book's warm tones act to further antiquate them into near lethal levels of nostalgic overkill.

This book brings to mind Josef Koudelka's original edition of Gypsies, whose horrendously blown out reproductions almost destroyed the power of his images- but even there you could tell the work still shined. Here, it really suffers; there is simply no joy to be had from it.  Had this been my first exposure to Ms. Maier's work, it would have had little more effect than that of an interesting, momentary diversion at a second hand book shop. 

No doubt in ten, twenty years time when her work and legacy is reexamined and reassessed, she will finally be granted the proper quality monograph she so richly deserves (as with Koudelka and others). As for now, one can only hope the upcoming documentary delivers some modicum of justice.