Vivian Maier (1926 – 2009) was an American street photographer. During her lifetime, Maier’s photographs were unknown and unpublished, and she never printed many of her negatives. It was only in 2009 a selection of Maier’s photographs went viral on Flickr. Critical acclaim and interest in her work quickly followed resulting in global exhibitions, documentaries and books. I find her work particularly interesting as it naturally captures everyday moments.
I have chosen a selection of her photography exploring shutter speed and depth of field.
This shot captured in Central Park, New York. The subject has been caught mid air doing the splits, which would require a fast shutter speed of around 1/250. Maier appears to be shooting far enough away from the subject to capture the skyline in fairly good focus, thus creating a wider depth of field. I like the idea of the subject being frozen, mid air – in an unusually quiet and still area of New York, away from the hustle and bustle practicing his performance in the shade of the hazy summer sun.
Maier generally uses fast shutter speeds to capture the moving city and it’s occupants expressions – a trait of a street photographer. However in a couple of photos you can see how a slower shutter speed has been used to capture more motion. Here the focus is on the three men sat on the bunker and the slow shutter speed is capturing the bus passing by them in the mid ground. It’s as though Maier is capturing some stillness (the men) in a busy street (the bus).
Vivian Maier was an early ‘selfie’ expert. There are numerous examples of self portraits captured in mirrors or reflective surfaces. Above is an example which sees the use of a short depth of field, perhaps around f5.6, this allows a shallow zone before capturing the subject as the focal point in the mirror and a diffused background.
I love this wintery shot in New York. The whole image is in focus which means a smaller aperture such as f/11-f/22 was used which is common when shooting landscapes, and cityscapes. The arching snow topped trees are in focus right down the path creating a clear tunnel or which the cities occupants can walk down. The branches look as though they’ve had a photoshop high pass filter applied to bring out the detail, but obviously they haven’t, just amazing photography by Vivian Maier.
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