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What If No One Ever Saw Your Photography?
Why do we share our work anyway?
I came across a curious YouTube video a few weeks ago where the creator went into a philosophical discussion about creating photos and having no one ever see them.
He referred to Vivian Maier, a woman that died in 2009. She had let her storage place lapse two years prior and all her contents were “won” by John Maloof, Ron Slattery, and Randy Prow. In her storage space were decades of developed and undeveloped film of her street photography work.
Vivian spent all her free time photographing over decades and never showed anyone her work. It was only just before her death that her work was shown and took the world by storm.
Can you imagine a person like her in today’s world with an iPhone, Instagram, and Facebook?
I can’t.
She was a Socialist, a Feminist, a movie critic, and a tell-it-like-it-is type of person. She learned English by going to theaters, which she loved … She was constantly taking pictures, which she didn’t show anyone. via Wikipedia
She never posted her work on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. She never did it for the likes, recognition, or adulation.
If the right people didn’t find her work, after letting her payments lapse, she…
