Brief
Look up the work of Gregory Crewdson online.
- Do you think there is more to this work than aesthetic beauty?
- Do you think Crewdson succeeds in making his work ‘psychological’? What
does this mean? - What is your main goal when making pictures? Do you think there’s anything wrong with making beauty your main goal? Why or why not?
Crewdson’s work is deliberately cinematic in style and as a result is often very popular in commercial settings. The dark nights, the heavy lights and the perfectly styled locations and actors aren’t meant to fool us into believing those moments are real, but rather they seduce us into entering the world of fiction. This visual strategy of elaborate direction, as in film, makes us lose our sense of reality and become absorbed with the alternative reality we’re faced with. Some commentators regard this is an effective method of image-making, but for others it lacks the subtlety and nuance of Wall and DiCorcia’s work. What do you think?
I had already come to the conclusion that Crewsdons images were beautiful and after listening to him comment and discuss, the ideas behind them and the creation process, I there is also a physiological aspect at play.
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- Fig.1 Gregory Crewdson
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- Fig.2 Gregory Crewdson
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- Fig.3 Gregory Crewdson
The quality, colour, tone of the light often gives the images an ethereal look and feel. This is an integral part of his process (Fig 1-5)
“feel like I do have a singular story to tell in visual form I’ve always been interested in using light and color to tell that story” (Crewdson)
“Light is the way I tell a story. Many of the pictures have upwards to 30 or 40 sometimes 50 light sources everything from small light in a car to 10k lights in cranes” (Crewdson)
Pools and shafts of light sometimes diffused through mist add to the mystery and spiritual beauty. At first they seem to portray “normal” and then we realise that there is something not quite right. I was reminded of images painted by The Swedish artist Simon Stalenhag, which were the inspiration behind the superb tv series “Tales From The Loop” (I would very much recommend it if you haven’t seen it)
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- Fig.5 Simon Stalenhag
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- Fig.6 Simon Stalenhag
Crewdson himself discusses the physiological aspect to some of his images in several interviews and lectures. These are from personal experiences which he sometimes realises are present after he has created the image. Her also admits that although there is often a personal psychological element, that we the viewer, may have our own questions, underlying thoughts and feelings which are disturbed by the often surreal, overall impressionthat the images present.
“My pictures are never directly autobiographical, but they do derive from my psychological anxieties, fears and desires” (Crewdson 2017)
“I am always interested in the viewer creating their own story. In this series, I am not preoccupied with interpreting what the picture necessarily means, which does not help the viewer in any way; it is the most basic element of what you are encountering visually” (Crewdson 2017)
I have many different goals when creating images. Currently of most of my goals are to fit a brief from the course! I don’t believe there is any problem with attempting to create beautiful images just to be beautiful. I used to try and do this all the time! For many people a photograph that they buy to put on their walls at home, just has to be beautiful. It doesn’t have to mean anything to them, it doesn’t have to be familiar to them, it might just have to have a specific colour in it that goes well with the couch! I am guessing here but there must be quite a few photographers who are creating images specifically for that market and there goals must be to create a variety if “beautiful” images that people want to buy and put on their walls.
Bibliography
Figues 1-4 Crewdson,G
Available at: http://www.artnet.com/artists/gregory-crewdson
[Accessed 06/04/21]
Figues 5,6 Stalenhag, S
Available at:https://www.simonstalenhag.se/tftl.html
[Accessed 06/04/21]
At: http://www.studiointernational.com/index.php/gregory-crewdson-interview-cathedral-of-the-pines-photographers-gallery-london
[Accessed 06/04/21]
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