Vivian Maier, from nanny to photo icon A nanny by trade, Vivian Maier took tens of thousands of pictures in 1950s and 60s in New York and Chicago, usually lacking the money to have them developed. With the chance discovery of her negatives in 2007, she instantly shot to the top league of 20th-Century street photographers. An exhibition of the American's work is opening in the French city of Tours. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES.