This is such a fascinating story. The discovery of thousands upon thousands of negatives and undeveloped rolls of film taken by a nanny living in Chicago. She let the payment on her storage locker lapse and her personal items were sold in auction. The purchaser didn't want to bother her because they said she was ill. After months of looking through her photos and being amazed, he googles her. Turns out it is the day after her obituary is posted in the paper. She had only died a few days before. Her life is a mystery. These photos are of such high caliber that they warrant an exhibit at the Chicago Culture Center!
I was reading bits and pieces about this story on the blog. He originally wasn't sure what to do with the photos, not being a photographer himself. He posted several on Flickr and got such an amazing response. One person suggested perhaps she fed a more well known photographer her photos because she obviously knew photography. Why are hardly any of her pictures printed? Why is she storing just negatives? And what about the undeveloped rolls? So many questions.
He is also in the process of publishing a book of her photos and a film is being made. I'm keeping on eye on this story as it is so interesting and I'm intrigued by her photos. And inspired! I have been dabbling in street photography here in Beijing (click on the Photography tag at the bottom of this post to see some of my work) and know how hard it is to get a good picture. I'm sure I can learn something from her.
Thanks to Noelle Hyman for mentioning this story on Paperclipping Roundtable (Paperclipping.com).
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