Gregory Crewdson was born in 1968 and is now a well-known photographer. He studied at Yale University and is now an instructor there. I learned about Crewdson in my photography class and I have basically fallen in love with his photos.
Crewdson has a team of nearly sixty people that work to perfect the sets for his photos. His photos are elaborately staged and sometimes super expensive to create. Most of his photos represent small town life, though they no doubt have a sci-fi feeling to them. Many of his photos are reminiscent of a colorful episode of the Twilight Zone and some say that they resemble Steven Spielberg's work because they appear somewhat cinematic.
Crewdson's elaborate sets definitely represent 21st century life. Here in the 21st century, we are all about complexity. Crewdson demonstrates complexity through his enormous, staged sets that require hundreds of hands and lots of time. Not only are his sets complex, but so are the ideas that his photos may or may not get across.
I am deeply enthralled by his somewhat perplexing photos. First, because they allow the imagination to run wild. There is no limit to what his photos might represent. For example, his series, Beneath the Roses, features an image of a woman floating face up in the water inside of a house in what looks like the den. How odd! He also has another that I deeply enjoy: a man standing outside of his car, the door is open, it's pouring rain and he's soaking wet. He's kind of feeling at the rain, as if asking, "what is this stuff?" I don't know what it means, but that's why I love it. It can mean anything!
The light in his photos is also extremely well done. Light comes in strong from all different directions, but is also lacking in all the right areas. Also Crewdson displays his photos on an extremely large scale, almost taking up full walls. This is reminiscent of today's society in a way. Everything is big nowadays... big TVs, big cars, big photographic displays... his usage of "big" is intriguing and helpful at the same time. Big photos, as opposed to one that fits into your wallet, are easier to connect and fall into. The largeness is also more realistic and lifelike. Also, Crewdson subtly places small signs and subjects into his photos that can only be seen from an extremely large scale. His talented interest for photography stems from a certain fascination that he has.
Crewdson has many times made the comment that he is intrigued with the idea of "frozen in time." Like no other media, photography has no beginning and no end. For example, books, songs, and movies all have a solid start and a finish. However, the beginning and the end are nonexistent for photographs, they just are. Crewdson definitely has a great time toying with this idea. Often, he leaves the viewer of his photos entirely perplexed, somewhat dumbfounded.
Crewdson has a team of nearly sixty people that work to perfect the sets for his photos. His photos are elaborately staged and sometimes super expensive to create. Most of his photos represent small town life, though they no doubt have a sci-fi feeling to them. Many of his photos are reminiscent of a colorful episode of the Twilight Zone and some say that they resemble Steven Spielberg's work because they appear somewhat cinematic.
Crewdson's elaborate sets definitely represent 21st century life. Here in the 21st century, we are all about complexity. Crewdson demonstrates complexity through his enormous, staged sets that require hundreds of hands and lots of time. Not only are his sets complex, but so are the ideas that his photos may or may not get across.
I am deeply enthralled by his somewhat perplexing photos. First, because they allow the imagination to run wild. There is no limit to what his photos might represent. For example, his series, Beneath the Roses, features an image of a woman floating face up in the water inside of a house in what looks like the den. How odd! He also has another that I deeply enjoy: a man standing outside of his car, the door is open, it's pouring rain and he's soaking wet. He's kind of feeling at the rain, as if asking, "what is this stuff?" I don't know what it means, but that's why I love it. It can mean anything!
The light in his photos is also extremely well done. Light comes in strong from all different directions, but is also lacking in all the right areas. Also Crewdson displays his photos on an extremely large scale, almost taking up full walls. This is reminiscent of today's society in a way. Everything is big nowadays... big TVs, big cars, big photographic displays... his usage of "big" is intriguing and helpful at the same time. Big photos, as opposed to one that fits into your wallet, are easier to connect and fall into. The largeness is also more realistic and lifelike. Also, Crewdson subtly places small signs and subjects into his photos that can only be seen from an extremely large scale. His talented interest for photography stems from a certain fascination that he has.
Crewdson has many times made the comment that he is intrigued with the idea of "frozen in time." Like no other media, photography has no beginning and no end. For example, books, songs, and movies all have a solid start and a finish. However, the beginning and the end are nonexistent for photographs, they just are. Crewdson definitely has a great time toying with this idea. Often, he leaves the viewer of his photos entirely perplexed, somewhat dumbfounded.
Crewdson's photography is both astonishing and at times unsettling. He certainly has the ability to captivate and confuse.
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