A major retrospective of Vivian Maier has opened at Fotografiska Shanghai, presenting more than 200 works by the 20th-century United States' street photographer.

The exhibition, titled Unseen Work, will run through July 19.

Curated by Anne Morin, the exhibition coincides with the centenary of Maier's birth and offers a comprehensive look at her works across different periods.

It features more than 200 black-and-white and color photographs, along with previously unseen images from her travels in Asia.

The exhibition also includes Super 8 film footage, as well as personal items such as her Rolleiflex and Leica cameras and her signature hat.

Vivian Maier (1926–2009) worked as a nanny for more than 40 years while taking photographs in her spare time. She left behind more than 150,000 negatives, most of which remained undeveloped during her lifetime.

Known for her black-and-white street photography in Chicago and New York, Maier captured everyday life in the United States from the 1950s to the 1970s, documenting ordinary people and urban scenes.

She later explored color photography in the late 1990s, showing a growing interest in abstract forms and textures.

Her travels took her to Canada, Europe, the Philippines, India and Yemen, as well as to Hong Kong and Macao of China, where she continued to document urban life through her lens.

Notably, she experimented with self-portraits using mirrors and shop windows before "selfies" became a cultural phenomenon, exploring the relationship between the individual and public space. The exhibition recreates this perspective with mirrors and reflective installations.

Her work drew public attention in 2007, when historian John Maloof acquired her negatives at a second-hand auction.

Source: Shanghai Observer