630
00:44:32,279 --> 00:44:34,857
- No, that's her mum's camera.
- Vivian's mom?
631
00:44:47,336 --> 00:44:48,495
Oh...
632
00:44:50,130 --> 00:44:51,623
- That's Vivian?
- Yes.
633
00:44:52,466 --> 00:44:54,418
JOHN: Wow.
634
00:44:57,346 --> 00:45:01,375
Another thing I found in
Vivian's stuff was this letter.
635
00:45:01,475 --> 00:45:06,847
It was written in French, and it's talking
about a photography lab in France.
636
00:45:17,324 --> 00:45:19,685
- And you can do... like this.
- Oui.
637
00:45:19,785 --> 00:45:23,030
The letter starts out,
"Dear Mr Simon..."
638
00:46:03,829 --> 00:46:05,531
Ah. (WHISPERS)
639
00:46:12,504 --> 00:46:14,248
Aah! D'accord.
640
00:46:55,964 --> 00:46:57,583
Ah!
641
00:47:00,427 --> 00:47:03,622
Previously, we thought
Vivian had no intentions
642
00:47:03,722 --> 00:47:07,084
of having anybody else print
her work or show her work.
643
00:47:07,184 --> 00:47:10,629
This letter proves that
assumption wrong.
644
00:47:10,729 --> 00:47:12,965
Vivian knew she was a
good photographer,
645
00:47:13,065 --> 00:47:15,551
and she knew that these
photographs were good.
646
00:47:15,651 --> 00:47:17,720
She wanted to show them to people.
647
00:47:17,820 --> 00:47:20,598
She may not have had that
happen while she was alive,
648
00:47:20,698 --> 00:47:23,025
but we're doing it now.
649
00:47:23,909 --> 00:47:27,487
I stopped scanning myself,
because I just couldn't keep up with it.
650
00:47:32,835 --> 00:47:36,196
There's a lab in New York with
technicians scanning her work,
651
00:47:36,296 --> 00:47:38,866
Monday through Friday, nine to five,
652
00:47:38,966 --> 00:47:41,793
at a rate of about a
few thousand a week.
653
00:47:42,678 --> 00:47:44,788
I've been developing the
black and white films,
654
00:47:44,888 --> 00:47:47,424
so I have about a couple of
hundred left to develop.
655
00:47:50,978 --> 00:47:53,422
It's a very complicated
and tricky procedure,
656
00:47:53,522 --> 00:47:55,633
because you have to get
the formula correct,
657
00:47:55,733 --> 00:47:59,061
and there's only one
chance to get it right.
658
00:48:00,362 --> 00:48:02,022
It's... it's magical.
659
00:48:11,999 --> 00:48:14,576
We don't know what she
would have printed,
660
00:48:15,836 --> 00:48:18,246
what she would have chosen or edited.
661
00:48:20,591 --> 00:48:25,253
We're seeing work now for the first
time that Vivian never saw herself.
662
00:48:27,097 --> 00:48:31,835
When you contacted me, I wasn't
sure if I wanted to get involved
663
00:48:31,935 --> 00:48:34,638
in a project with posthumous prints.
664
00:48:35,439 --> 00:48:38,342
I just didn't think it would be
the right fit for the gallery.
665
00:48:38,442 --> 00:48:41,053
This is the room where we
store our photographs.
666
00:48:41,153 --> 00:48:44,181
I think there are about between 25
and 30,000 photographs in here.
667
00:48:44,281 --> 00:48:46,684
I mean, it's more than most museums have.
668
00:48:46,784 --> 00:48:50,771
Vivian Maier, we've had
more interest in this work
669
00:48:50,871 --> 00:48:55,409
than perhaps any other photographer
I've ever worked with.
670
00:49:02,174 --> 00:49:05,585
It's a big problem trying to get
her work into institutions.
671
00:49:06,678 --> 00:49:09,373
The problem is that the
art world establishment
672
00:49:09,473 --> 00:49:11,583
still won't recognise Vivian's work.
673
00:49:11,683 --> 00:49:16,588
Museums usually deal with
the final product, the print,
674
00:49:16,688 --> 00:49:19,558
that was made by the artist
in the artist's life.
675
00:49:20,859 --> 00:49:25,981
They don't want to interpret an
artist's work from where they left off.
676
00:49:26,824 --> 00:49:29,727
That's bogus, because Gary Winogrand
677
00:49:29,827 --> 00:49:33,272
had a desk full of rolls of film
that he never developed.
678
00:49:33,372 --> 00:49:35,107
So they're developing 'em.
679
00:49:35,207 --> 00:49:38,444
Eugene Atget's work was
printed after his death,
680
00:49:38,544 --> 00:49:40,863
and then ended up being
acquired by MoMA.
681
00:49:40,963 --> 00:49:44,750
I mean, it's frustrating,
because it's being done and...
682
00:49:45,467 --> 00:49:47,411
but nobody wants to do
it for Vivian's work.
683
00:49:47,511 --> 00:49:49,872
She did print some of her work,
684
00:49:49,972 --> 00:49:54,543
but it... it was largely not
the best edit of her work.
685
00:49:54,643 --> 00:49:57,588
She was a masterful photographer,
686
00:49:57,688 --> 00:50:00,891
but printing was not her thing.
687
00:50:02,359 --> 00:50:06,013
That's common, though. I mean,
Cartier-Bresson hated printing,
688
00:50:06,113 --> 00:50:08,182
and Robert Frank
wasn't a good printer.
689
00:50:08,282 --> 00:50:09,983
But they hire printers.
690
00:50:10,993 --> 00:50:13,153
They hire somebody to print for them.
691
00:50:13,620 --> 00:50:18,108
Good work is good work, and it's
recognised that this is really great art.
692
00:50:18,208 --> 00:50:21,495
I do think her work needs to be
appreciated by... by the world.
693
00:50:24,673 --> 00:50:26,458
These are the new prints.
694
00:50:26,967 --> 00:50:29,661
JOHN: Cool. Yeah, these are great.
Thank you for showing me.
695
00:50:29,761 --> 00:50:31,830
They're yours.
696
00:50:31,930 --> 00:50:35,959
The only way this work can move forward
is if there's money that is made.
697
00:50:36,059 --> 00:50:38,678
The sale of prints will
be a part of that.
698
00:50:43,775 --> 00:50:49,223
Of course, I wish that I could
give her money, you know...