The article also mentions another artist who led a remarkable life:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Darger
He wrote, over 60 years, a 15,145 page illustrated fantasy novel, as a janitor who had had a very, very difficult life. At first, I initially couldn't process that figure and automatically read it as 15,000 words, but, NO!, it's 15,145 pages. Unbelievable.
I had never before heard of either of these extraordinary artists, but my day is already better for having learned of their lives and works.
Anyone who has shot photos (film or digital) knows how much effort goes into the editing process.
I love her photographs and her story, I just find it fascinating to think about this detail, especially when contextualizing her with other artists.
At the same time there were other photographers with that approach, who left processing to others and/or opted for no editing; e.g.:
> He believed in composing his photographs in the viewfinder, not in the darkroom. He showcased this belief by having nearly all his photographs printed only at full-frame and completely free of any cropping or other darkroom manipulation. He insisted that his prints be left uncropped so as to include a few millimeters of the unexposed negative around the image area, resulting in a black frame around the developed picture.
This is a story of exploitation of someone talented in a system designed to waste her life.
I've seen it a couple of times and I keep marveling at the sheer strangeness of how it all played out.
Not knowing about who Maier was, I picked this up at a local book fair because of the way the compositions in the panels reminded me of photography. Only by talking to the author at the fair did I realize that she told the story of some of Maier's best known photographs, and that's why it looked the way.
Anyhow, if you speak french, I wholeheartedly recommend it:
https://peinture-fraiche.be/en/book/vivian-maier-a-la-surfac...
What Vivian Maier saw in color (2018) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19498483 - March 2019 (17 comments)
