Having recently seen Finding Vivian Maier, I find myself asking a lot of questions about where chronicling the human experience intersects with the responsibility of the artist. If you have not seen the movie, I won't spoil it for you, but Ms. Maier was clearly a damaged person, and as a very private person, photography allowed her to participate in life on terms that she could negotiate. Obsessed with "the folly of humanity", she photographed prolifically on the streets of Chicago, taking the children in her care (she was a nanny) into stock yards and dangerous parts of town. Most of her work remained unprinted, and much of it wasn't even developed, until after her death. And it can be argued that she currently enjoys the greatest popularity of any street photographer. What would she say?
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