We recently saw the Vivian Maier exhibition at the Scott Nichols Gallery in San Francisco. We’d seen the documentary film “Finding Vivian Maier” a week before.
At the exhibition, many of her photos struck me in terms mostly of composition but also with respect to tonality and how she used light/dark. A favorite – which also had some truly beautiful film grain is this untitled image of a woman laughing. She’s totally out of focus in the shot – but the story is there nonetheless.
As we were walking down California Street in the rain recently, I was about to snap an image of the cable cars when this man, coincidentially another photographer, walked in front of me. I thought the shot was a throw away – but decided to channel a bit of Vivian Maier into the shot – with tonality and adding grain in Lightroom. While it’s certainly not up to Maier’s composition, it’s a fun image – and that smile on his blurry face makes me smile!