A Trip to China - Vivian Maier: Out of the Shadows

Art for me is a multi-faceted transporter. From the artist’s perspective, it's the places where we work, be it studio or street, local or abroad.  For the advocate, art transports us to the places of exploration in the process of art making. Additionally for the exhibition goer, art serves as the transporter in getting us to where the show is held along with the experience the artwork gives us while viewing it.  Furthermore, art-related travels often become enhanced by those we meet along the way.

In the spirit of art-related travels, I've just returned from China accompanying Michael Williams for a press check of the upcoming book, Vivian Maier: Out of the Shadows (by Richard Cahan and Michael Williams of CityFiles Press). The book is scheduled to be released this September.  For those who don’t know, a press check is a critical and sometimes grueling part of the printing process especially for a photography book. It takes place on-site (in our case Nansha) and is an important proofing step for the main purpose of achieving the expectations you want regarding the photographic images, tonality being among other important details.

We worked for 4 days in a factory in Nansha (near Hong Kong) in a building with 1,000 workers.  The workers we met were not only professional, serious, and hardworking but warm, curious, and fun!  Additionally, it was an amazing experience for me to witness first hand  Michael Williams at work with his Chicago work ethic, hammering out requests, and examining the details to the very last of the book's near 300 images. 

In summary, the press check went as well as we could have hoped for, and I am thoroughly excited for the the September book release of Vivian Maier: Out of the Shadows.  Overall regarding the book, I have always felt that it was best to go with Chicago-based authors who are good on their feet,  good on the streets and good with understanding photography.   Like a pair of old fashioned Chicago newspaper snoops, Michael and Richard captured the Chicago-side of this Chicago artist.   

The only slight problem I ran into was at an immigration check point where a guard pointed to the "soul patch" facial hair shown on my passport photo and then pointed to my cleanly shaved face and demanded, "Where is it?"  More interestingly, I had a pre-arranged meeting in Hong Kong with a photo gallery owner from Shanghai. Sven, the gallery owner, being German and measuring in at around 6 foot 8 inches was not only easy to spot but was an extremely delightful person who has been following the Vivian Maier story half way around the world with great enthusiasm.  More transported experiences thanks to Vivian!

I can’t give away the book's surprises or even guarantee how one will think of Vivian Maier after reading it.   I can say from my own point of view, her work strikes me as a celebration of the anonymity most of us live in.  Maier’s work causes me to lift my eyes or in some cases lower them.  All the while, forcing me to view the world with wider eyes.

Vivian Maier: Out of the Shadows is scheduled to be released in early September.  For more information, please visit CityFilesPress.com.

Additionally, mark your calendars for a September visit to Chicago.  Vivian Maier’s Chicago opens at the CHICAGO HISTORY MUSEUM on September 8 in addition to a show at the THOMAS MASTERS GALLERY featuring a selection of silver gelatin prints featured in the book Vivian Maier: Out of the Shadows, opening September 7.  The Chicago History Museum and the Thomas Masters Gallery are within walking distance of each other.

Jeff Goldstein