South London Women Artists April 2014 | Page 68

invited by Pia Randall-Goddard Vivian Maier Working entirely to the rhythms of her own personal vision, her art undiluted by anyone else’s agenda, Vivian Maier was completely unknown to the art world during her own lifetime. She photographed New York and Chicago from the 1950s onwards whilst she worked as a nanny. She locked her cameras and photos away in her bedroom, then towards the end of her life moved the work to storage lockers. The unedited treasure of over 100,000 negatives and 700 rolls of film was rescued when the lockers went up for auction to pay off debts, the quality and importance of the work immediately recognised by the buyer. South London Women Artists I’m Inside, Ring The Bell 69