Vivian Maier

1. It takes a very strong-willed woman and strong-willed person to desire such a life. Most people flourish off of the attention they receive from others and cannot live without that attention. Vivian was not that type of person. I think this is because she had such strong opinions and such an open mind. She was willing to depart from common conceptions and society and simply pursue her own personal passions. She was able to keep in contact with society and community because of her job as a nanny and even through the photographs she took of random people that did not even know her. 
2. Documentary photography is an account of a person or event that had a significant contribution to society. In this case, that person is Vivian Maier. This documentary uses reporting from people that knew Vivian or people that have studied about Vivian to tell about her life and how she came to be the firm-spirited woman, photographer, and caring nanny she was. 
3. Once a person dies, I think that a person’s work should be available to people. Vivian Maier’s works are meaningless if they are not shared to the world once she has died. Her works were certainly a passion to her, but they should be shared after her death. This makes not only her photography last, but her as a person last. She must have had something to prove by being so secretive and not letting herself out into the world, and people wouldn’t even begin to wonder why she would do such a thing if her works were not revealed. 
4. For the most part, it seems as though people thought of Maier as a very good nanny. She was compared to Mary Poppins, as she was good to her children and would take them out to pick strawberries and do other things. However, one woman said that you had to watch out for her temper sometimes, because she would get emotional about certain things and act out. 
5. John Maloof
6. In the post above is one of the pictures I particularly like that Vivian Maier took. First off, like most of her other pictures, it is black and white, which I think enhances many photographs. Moreover, I think the picture conveys a lot of emotion. The wrinkles on the old man and his worn smile makes me think that the man has undergone a stressful life. He looks exhausted, yet serious. The picture makes me want to meet the old man and ask him about his life. I think that photographs that make viewers wonder more are the most successful photographs.

Other Portrait Pictures

Luc is Beautiful

Photographers that inspire me

http://bellinipics.com/galleries/

This photographer inspires me because she takes pictures that convey happiness. She does so with her bright lighting and with the expression of her subjects.

gabriellegracephotography.com

This photographer inspires me because all of her pictures are of family, couples, or friends. They deal with multiple people and the happiness people feel from being around people they love. Her pictures express the importance of togetherness.

http://www.jennifermauren.com/blog/

This photographer inspires me because she takes photographs of little kids and babies for the most part. Her pictures display the innocence and purity of the little children.

Polaroid Project

Selective Color

High Saturation

Black and White

Low Saturation

Perspective Pictures

 

Worm view

Subject View

Worm View

Bird View

Subject View

Subject View

Bird View

Shutter Speed, Aperture, and ISO

Shutter speed: changing the shutter speed changes the amount of time the lens is open. A slower shutter speed would give a more blurry picture, and a faster shutter speed would give a sharper picture.

Aperture: the amount of light let into the photo; it controls the depth of field in the picture. A lower aperture number produces a blurry background, and a higher aperture number produces a deeper depth of field.

ISO: the level of sensitivity of a camera to available light. The lower the ISO number, the less sensitive the photo will be to the light; the higher the ISO number, the more sensitive the photo will be to the light.