John Maloof acquired Vivian’s negatives while at a furniture and antique auction. Vivian Maier was a street photographer from the 1950s – 1970s, based in Chicago. Her discovered work includes between 30-40,000 mostly medium format negatives. Since the discovery, John has created a photography blog dedicated to Vivian Maier’s work in which he publishes her pictures.

“From what I know the auction house acquired her belongings from her storage locker that was sold off due to delinquent payments. I didn’t know what street photography was when I purchased them. It took me days to look through all of her work. It inspired me to pick up photography myself. Little by little, as I progressed as a photographer, I would revisit Vivian’s negatives and I would see more in her work. I bought her same camera and took to the same streets soon to realize how difficult it was to make images of her caliber. I discovered the eye she had for photography through my own practice. Needless to say, I am attached to her work.”