The noir and the mise-en-scène in Vivian Maier: the imaginary around the nanny

Abstract

The article establishes relationships between the work of Vivian Maier and the aesthetic noir, also present in the work of Alfred Hitchcock, starting from the conception of the imaginary as propeller of the image. The work of the photographer, revealed after being concealed by the profession of nanny for decades, is analyzed according to the elements of the noir movies, as the thriller, the mystery, the fantasy, the contrasts between the clear and the dark, the expressivity and the first person narrative, present on his mise-en-scène. It is concluded that her images have attracted much interest in the world mainly because of the way the photographer constructs her fictional images, permeated by the imagery of the noir.