寻找薇薇安·迈尔

It’s amazing, isn’t it,
你跟某人友好了10年
that you’re friendly with someone for, like, ten years
你却对这个人只知道
and that you don’t know anything more about them than…
这么多
this much?
我们总以为她是法国人
We always thought she was French.
现在她竟成了奥地利人啦
Now, she’s kind of, what, Austrian?
她不是来自阿尔萨斯洛林地区吗
I mean, she’s from Alfrom AlsaceLorraine or something?
她来自纽约
She’s from New York.
来自纽约
From New York?
什么意思 来自纽约
What do you mean, from New York?
她在纽约出生
Well, she was born in New York.
是吗
She was?
她在纽约出生
She was born in New York.
不会吧
No, really?
我以为她生于欧洲
I thought she was born in Europe.
我以为她是法国人
I thought she was French.
那她的口音哪里来的
How did she acquire that accent?
纽约市 国家档案馆
薇薇安是哪里人
where’s Vivian from?
迈克尔·斯特劳斯 系谱学家
她是纽约人 生于1926年2月1日
She’s from New York City, born February 1st of 1926.
纽约市出生证明
从专业立场来说
Speaking from a professional standpoint,
拿我过去做的来比较
compared to what I’ve done in the past,
这绝对可以排在高难度名单上
this has ranked up real high on the list of difficulty.
每一家庭通常对其住址会
The families usually have some consistency
维持一致性
as to where they’re located.
至少我做过的公开记录
Lat least have them in public record
我能找到关于他们的讯息
where I can find information about them,
但这个例外
not like this one.
整个家族都很神秘
The whole family is a mystery family.
我们知晓薇薇安·迈尔的二三事
There’s a few things that we know about Vivian Maier.
一 我们知道她没结过婚
One, we know that she was never married.
她是高龄未婚
She was a spinster.
她没丈夫 没孩子
She had no husband. She had no children.
她父母双亡
Her parents are both dead.
薇薇安有兄弟 是个哥哥
Vivian did have a brother, an older brother.
他可能过世了
Clearly, he’s probably dead.
所有人似乎都很神秘
All of them seem to be private.
所有人似乎都不想
All of them seem to want nothing to do
跟其他家人有任何牵连
with the rest of their families.
所有人似乎都跟
All of them seem to be disconnected
家族其他人没有联络
from the remainder of their family.
她有个姑姑 在遗嘱里把一切都留给
She had one aunt who was to leave everything
她的一个朋友 而不是家人
to a friend in her will not to family but to a friend
这就是为什么
and this is the reason why.
她是这么说的 我直接引用她的遗嘱
She says here and I’m quoting directly from her will
“我没有任何东西留给我的亲人
“I make no provision for any of my relatives
“因为最熟悉我的
“for reasons best known to me
“是我私交较好的几个友人”
“which I have disclosed to a few of my intimate friends.”
1965年阿尔玛过世时
At the time of Alma’s death in 1965,
她唯一的侄女薇薇安还活着啊
Vivian was obviously alive, her only niece.
不管她的困扰是什么 全跟她进了坟墓
Whatever her hangup was, it went to the grave with her.
薇薇安的父亲很早就过世了
Vivian’s father was out of the picture very early on.
所以户口普查记录显示薇薇安和母亲一起生活
So the census records show that Vivian’s living with her mother.
但我知悉她在法国住过一段时间
But I did know that she lived in France for a while
她母亲是法国人
and that her mother was from France.
所以我猜她在法国有家人
So my guess was that there was family in France,
因为1949年的照片
because the thing is, the 1949 photos
和1959年的照片都是同个村子
and the 1959 photos are the same village.
所以我知道她是回到同一个地方
So I know she was returning to the same place.
我开始查阅她从法国带回的遗物
So I started looking up all the stuff that she had from France.
我开始查看法国的照片
I started looking at the photographs of France,
这座教堂的尖塔长怎样
and how this church steeple looks
那座教堂的尖塔长怎样
and how that church steeple looks
在这个小村庄里
in this little village.
我也上网去
And I would go on the internet,
查看法国的一些小村庄
and I would look up little villages in France
去找相应的尖塔
and try to match the steeples.
就像进行指纹配对
It’s like matching a fingerprint.
我知道至少有一个村子
I knew I had at least one of the villages
是她曾去过的
that she was in found…
圣朱利安和圣波内特
SaintJulien and SaintBonnet
这个偏远的小小牧羊人村子
in this remote little sheepherder village
坐落法国阿尔卑斯山 人口两百五十
in the French Alps, population 250.
你找到她的小镇也许是对她的冒犯
She might have been offended that you found her little town.
这跟你无关啊
That was none of your business.
她可能会说 “天啊天
She might say, “God, God.
“他为什么要这么做”
“Why did he do that?”
不知为什么 我的好奇心超强
For some reason, my curiosity is overwhelming
想找出薇薇安的更多事情
to find out more about Vivian.
我发现了一个艺术家
I’m uncovering an artist.
如果不把这块巨石翻过
If I’m leaving this giant boulder unturned
如果我不去那里 一定会铸下错误
because I don’t go here, it would be a mistake.
法国 尚普索地区 圣博内县
丹尼尔·阿诺 圣瑞利安市镇镇长
那些记得她的人
他们记得她是因为她与众不同
50年代没有人会拍照
除非是教会活动
或是在婚礼上
薇薇安·迈尔
沿路在尚普索穿行
为山景痴迷
或是为劳作的人们
这确实称得上
古怪
你和薇薇安·迈尔是什么关系
我是她最后一个表兄弟
西尔万 你有照片给我们看吗
我当然有照片给你们看了
我祖父
我们的曾祖父是亲兄弟
薇薇安拍的
Vivian took this.
-你确定 -完全确定
-Are you sure? -Yeah, 100%.
这张照片是薇薇安拍的
我也有同样一张
I have this same print.
-他也有这张 -对 对 对
这张照片是薇薇安拍的这是她冲洗的
Vivian took this picture. This is her print.
他知道的
会让他高兴吗
他说 “你不高兴吗”
He says, “Aren’t you happy?”
她的箱式相机[蛇腹相机]
Her box camera.
我也有一个类似的
I have… l have a similar one.
这是她母亲的相机
不是 那是她母亲的相机
No, that’s her mom’s camera.
薇薇安的妈妈
Vivian’s mom?
对 对 对
薇薇安的妈妈
对
这是西尔万 这是薇薇安
-那是薇薇安 -是啊
-That’s Vivian? -Yes.
我在薇薇安的遗物找到这封信
Another thing I found in Vivian’s stuff was this letter.
用法文写的
It was written in French,
里头提到法国一家摄影实验室
and it’s talking about a photography lab in France.
你不会正好带着这封信吧
就是这封信
我儿子会读它的
你可以这么做
You can do like this.
是 是
Oui, oui.
信这样起头 “亲爱的西蒙先生”
The letter starts out, “Dear Mr. Simon.”
是的 那是我父亲
我经常会看我以前拍的尚普索风光佳作
它们被您放大制成了明信片
我爱这些美丽的风景照
它们让我想起您
我有个请求
我不知能否跨越地域的隔绝
再在一起合作
我喜欢您这样的手艺
我是个很难弄的人
毫无疑问您也知道
或许我能把胶卷寄给您来印
我有一堆很棒的照片
是用我的新禄莱相机拍的
自从回到美国后
我做了许多实验
我自认为它们还不错
我说一堆的时候 其实是指一大堆
请注意 我不想要高光 因为我偏爱亚光效果
不要高光 请亚光处理
请用您给我印明信片时同种的好纸
最后
请告诉我您对我照片的看法
之前我们以为薇薇安无意
Previously, we thought Vivian had no intentions
让任何人冲印或展示她的作品
of having anybody else print her work or show her work.
这封信证明那种猜想错了
This letter proves that assumption wrong.
薇薇安知道她是个优秀的摄影师
Vivian knew she was a good photographer,
她知道这些照片是优秀的
and she knew that these photographs were good.