Vivian Maier

Born in New York City to a French mother and an Austrian-Hungarian father, Vivian Maier spent much of her childhood in France before returning to the United States. She worked for decades as a nanny, quietly honing her craft as a street photographer, capturing candid moments of urban life with a Rolleiflex camera around Chicago and New York. Her intensely private nature meant her incredible talent remained largely unknown during her lifetime.

It wasn't until 2007, two years before her death, that a real estate agent named John Maloof purchased a box of her negatives at a local auction, beginning the monumental task of cataloging, scanning, and promoting her work. What he unearthed was a treasure trove of stunning, insightful, and often poignant images that immediately captivated the art world.

Maier's rise to posthumous stardom has been nothing short of extraordinary, with major exhibitions worldwide and documentaries dedicated to her life and art. From obscurity to international renown, her story is a testament to overlooked genius and the serendipity of discovery, though one wonders what she would have made of all the fuss.