Vivian Maier In The Burbs As Good As Her New York Work

• Deanna Isaacs
• Vivian Maier photos at Art Center Highland Park

When I talked with photographer and Northwestern University faculty member Pamela Bannos for a column earlier this spring about posthumously famous local photographer Vivian Maier, Bannos told me something surprising: that Maier’s best work may have already been behind her when she moved to Chicago in the mid-1950s.

Clocks, newspapers, mirrors, cars, and kids appear frequently in the suburban photos—the children falling into handsome patterns as they skip rocks on Lake Michigan, cluster around a lemonade stand, or help dad wash a gloriously finned midcentury auto. But Maier’s take on this American Dream-land is never safe or sweet. Her “Boys on the Beach,” for instance, shot in pristine 1960s Wilmette, could be a poster for Death in Venice.

“Vivian Maier: A Photographic Journey” runs through July 12 at the Art Center Highland Park.