Available on DVD and Blu-ray from Mon 10 Nov

John Maloof & Charlie Siskel / USA / 2013 / 83 mins

Prepare to be introduced to your new favourite photographer and outsider artist. Vivian Maier was a nanny to many children and families throughout New York and Chicago. She undertook her duties like any other in her profession – except she had a mysterious secret. As she carried out her work, she always had an old Rolleiflex camera around her neck and would take photographs. Unknown to her employers these were not simple snapshots, but evocative and emotional portraits of the people around her and the city she lived in. Maier was not an amateur, but a true artist expressing herself through street photography. The puzzle is that she never showed her work to anyone, her photographs lying in storage until after her death.

Our story begins after co-director John Maloof buys a set of negatives at an auction. When examining his purchase, he realises he has acquired a stockpile of professional quality images and goes on a journey in search of the photographer and her story. Throughout the documentary we uncover more and more about Maier. She was reclusive, a spinster and a hoarder of seemingly worthless items and objects. Through interviews with previous employers and children in her care we realise she was a chameleon, constantly changing her name and never divulging her backstory.

It is the mystery of Maier that keeps the audience hooked. Even though we know she is deceased, we never know where the film is going to end up and what twist and turns are around the next corner. Maier is a compelling character even in her absence. She clearly suffered from a mental illness, but, unfortunately, this is not explored in the movie. Knowing more about her health would allow us to find out more about her motivation. Instead the viewer is taken on a expedition from the perspective of Maloof, showing us the beauty in her images; Maier may be the subject matter, the true star is the photography. Maier deserves a place in history alongside Robert Frank, Diane Arbus and Henri Cartier-Bresson, and Finding Vivian Maier uncovers the genius in her work.