Vivian Maier, New York
Vivian Maier
Vivian Maier, Churchill, Manitoba, Canada, 1958
Vivian Maier, negatives, 1959
2011 Photographs of the Year: Scarlett Johansson, Vivian Maier and the contemporary self-portrait
“Photographs of the year” photographs mainline emotion, documenting the most awful, dramatic events of the year. Sorting these examples of human conflict and suffering into a list with a SEO’d headline (“top” “best” “most”) doesn’t add any context or understanding. I’m going to take the opposite approach: start with the most insignificant photograph as “photograph of the year” and see where the tush takes us.
Scarlett Johansson, self-portrait
I haven’t seen the self-portrait by Scarlett Johansson on anyone’s list, even this viral photos list from Time. It was one of the most-seen photographs. In 2011 a nude self-portrait of a celebrity is not new or newsworthy, but the self-portrait is still relatively new. Before 100 years ago, you either had to be an experienced photographer, painter or draughtsperson to create one. Then the Kodak Brownie allowed everyone to make one.
Vivian Maier, New York
Vivian Maier, self-portrait, 1956
Vivian Maier, 1958
Vivian Maier, self-portrait
Vivian Maier, self-portrait, 1955
