共通テスト英語 2021年度（令和3年度） 第2日程 第5問
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Vivian Maier

This is the story of an American street photographer who kept her passion for taking pictures secret until her death. She lived her life as a caregiver, and if it had not been for the sale of her belongings at an auction house, her incredible work might never have been discovered.

It was 2007. A Chicago auction house was selling off the belongings of an old woman named Vivian Maier. She had stopped paying storage fees, and so the company decided to sell her things. Her belongings—mainly old photographs and negatives—were sold to three buyers: Maloof, Slattery, and Prow.

Slattery thought Vivian’s work was interesting so he published her photographs on a photo-sharing website in July 2008. The photographs received little attention. Then, in October, Maloof linked his blog to his selection of Vivian’s photographs, and right away, thousands of people were viewing them. Maloof had found Vivian Maier’s name with the prints, but he was unable to discover anything about her. Then an Internet search led him to a 2009 newspaper article about her death. Maloof used this information to discover more about Vivian’s life, and it was the combination of Vivian’s mysterious life story and her photographs that grabbed everyone’s attention.

Details of Vivian’s life are limited for two reasons. First, since no one had interviewed her while she was alive, no one knew why she took so many photographs. Second, it is clear from interviews with the family she worked for that Vivian was a very private person. She had few friends. Besides, she had kept her hobby a secret.

Vivian was born in 1926 in the United States to an Austrian father and a French mother. The marriage was not a happy one, and it seems her mother and father lived apart for several years. During her childhood Vivian frequently moved between the US and France, sometimes living in France, and sometimes in the US. For a while, Vivian and her mother lived in New York with Jeanne Bertrand, a successful photographer. It is believed that Vivian became interested in photography as a young adult, as her first photos were taken in France in the late 1940s using a very simple camera. She returned to New York in 1951, and in 1956 she moved to Chicago to work as a caregiver for the Gensburg family. This job gave her more free time for taking photographs.

In 1952, at the age of 26, she purchased her first 6 × 6 camera, and it was with this that most of her photographs of life on the streets of Chicago were taken. For over 30 years she took photos of children, the elderly, the rich, and the poor. Some people were not even aware that their picture was being taken. She also took a number of self-portraits. Some were reflections of herself in a shop window. Others were of her own shadow. Vivian continued to document Chicago life until the early 1970s, when she changed to a new style of photography.

An international award-winning documentary film called Finding Vivian Maier brought interest in her work to a wider audience. The film led to exhibitions in Europe and the US. To choose the photographs that best represent her style, those in charge of the exhibitions have tried to answer the question, “What would Vivian Maier have printed?” In order to answer this question, they used her notes, the photos she actually did print, and information about her preferences as reported by the Gensburgs. Vivian was much more interested in capturing moments rather than the outcome. So, one could say the mystery behind Vivian’s work remains largely “undeveloped.”

Presentation notes:

Vivian Maier

Vivian the photographer

☆ She took many pictures while she was working as a caregiver. ☆ Nobody interviewed her while she was alive, so we do not know much about her. ☆ [30]

Vivian’s work

☆ Her photographs mainly concentrated on: ・the young and old, and the rich and poor ・[31] ・[32]

How her work gained recognition

☆ Vivian’s storage fees were not paid. ☆ [33] ☆ [34] ☆ [35] ☆ [36] ☆ The combining of information on her life and work increased people’s interest.

How her work became known worldwide

☆ An award-winning documentary film about her life and work helped capture a new audience. ☆ [37]

The ‘BIG’ unanswered question: [38]

問 1 Choose the best statement for [30].

① Her work remained undiscovered until it was sold at auction. ② She is thought to have become attracted to photography in her thirties. ③ She took her camera wherever she went and showed her pictures to others. ④ The majority of her photos were taken in New York.

問 2 Choose the two best items for [31] and [32]. (The order does not matter.)

① documentary-style pictures ② industrial landscapes ③ natural landscapes ④ pictures of herself ⑤ shop windows

問 3 Put the following events into the order in which they happened. [33]～[36]

① A buyer linked his blog to some of her pictures. ② A report on Vivian’s death was published in a newspaper. ③ An auction company started selling her old photographs and negatives. ④ Her work was published on the Internet.

問 4 Choose the best statement for [37].

① Exhibitions of her work have been held in different parts of the world. ② Her photography book featuring street scenes won an award. ③ She left detailed instructions on how her photographs should be treated. ④ The children of Vivian’s employers provided their photographs.

問 5 Choose the best question for [38].

① “What type of camera did she use for taking photos?” ② “Where did she keep all her negatives and prints?” ③ “Why did she leave New York to become a caregiver?” ④ “Why did she take so many photos without showing them to anyone?”