The origins of noir are generally traced back to German Expressionism in the 1920s, where filmmakers like Fritz Lang and F.W. Murnau used dramatic lighting and distorted sets to convey psychological tension. When émigré directors brought this style to Hollywood, it merged with American crime fiction to form classic film noir in the 1940s - 50s. Films like The Maltese Falcon (1941) and Double Indemnity (1944) featured cynical antiheroes, femmes fatales, and morally ambiguous urban settings. In the late 20th century, noir evolved into neo-noir and neon noir. Blade Runner (1982), for example, updated noir tropes through futuristic, dystopian cityscapes, lit in neon and saturated colours. More recently, Nordic noir has brought the genre into bleak, restrained Scandinavian settings, blending psychological depth with procedural realism.
Noir: New Perspectives is a predominantly AI generated exhibition which explores how noir aesthetics resonate with other subjects and styles. Tokyo’s cityscape at night elevates empty and transient urban spaces to the poetic. Architectural styles inspired by early 20th century futurist visionaries provide towering, impersonal backdrops for dystopian narratives. Meanwhile, images of everyday rural America, influenced by 35mm street photography, find noir sensibilities in the banal, transforming ordinary spaces into scenes of quiet ambiguity. Together, these perspectives show how noir remains a living aesthetic—adaptable, cinematic, and present in unexpected contexts.
