Escape artists and the pursuit of obscurity

At first glance there is not much that connects street artist Banksy, American author Thomas Pynchon, American photographer Vivian Maier and authors J.D. Salinger and Elena Ferrante. But in their own distinct ways each of these individuals are or were escape artists. They either made a deliberate attempt to avoid publicity and the limelight or simply were not interested in being interviewed or even seen in public. Fame did not interest them. But society is continually interested in them.