8Following the discovery of her archive in a thrift auction house in 2007, Vivian Maier's posthumous trajectory from relative obscurity to one of the great American photographers of the twentieth century is the story of a singular talent. From the mid-1950s throughout her adult life, she worked as a nanny in New York City and Chicago. During this time, she created a huge body of photographs and films recording everyday street life, often including self-portraits and moments of fleeting reflection within the cityscape, and earning her comparisons to Helen Levitt, Robert Frank, and Diane Arbus. This new addition to the Photofile series is a succinct and essential overview of Maier's work, and a fascinating window into American life.