Gregory Crewdson – In A Lonely Place

Untitled, by Gregory Crewdson, from the series Beneath the Roses, 2006Last week I went to view an exhibition at the Centre of Contemporary Photography: Gregory Crewdson’s In a Lonely Place (which ended today).

His images are cinematic mise-en-scenes, disquieting, and uneasy. They have been labelled ‘hyperreal’ – which is by definition ‘involving or characterised by particularly realistic graphic representation’. This is true, but this cold term does not capture the essence of Crewdson’s photographs.

There is the sense that beyond the camera lens all is still and silent. No bird calls, no leaf drops. There is a glass between us and this other world. We are silent observers and the people in these bell jars are unmoving, forever trapped. There is something sinister about to happen, and I found myself searching for clues, trying to glimpse a hint of an intruder somewhere (a bit like Deckard in Bladerunner enlarging that photograph to the nth degree).

I particularly loved the snowy street scene (top) – there is so much detail to fascinate, and the enormous scale of the photographs allows one to become utterly immersed in the landscape. Of this image he says:

“For that picture, we waited till there was a huge snowstorm. Then we worked with the town to close down the main street, which hadn't been ploughed for 24 hours. There was even a lamp post we had the city remove.” [Herald Sun]

Untitled, by Gregory Crewdson, from the series Beneath the Roses, 2005Crewdson, as you would expect, works with a large crew to achieve these images. He first drives around looking for suitable locations, and as he develops the narrative, members of a regular work team – which include directors of photography and art, and a line producer – sign on for the shoot which may take up to five weeks.

Although his inspirations include David Lynch, as well as other photographers such as Diane Arbus and (very evidently) painter Edward Hopper, Crewdson is not interested in progressing to making films himself. He tends to think in single images, and calls himself a reluctant photographer. Like the chef who does not like to cook at home, he must compel himself to take snapshots of his children. But his ‘movie snapshots’ certainly do compel his audience.

See many more images at Art Blart (scroll down). 

Nighthawks, by Edward Hopper, 1942