Gregory Crewdson

Personal observations
Greg Crewdson, when creating the shot, leaves plenty of space around the character. The character itself, as I noticed is positioned in the center is near it. All other decorations ‘frame’ the main focal point. ( beginning with that the main object is excluded by using strong shadows around it or oppositely, a stronger light; using spots and dark marks, or making it ‘different’ using contrast). The surroundings have lots of details, lightning spots, uneven surfaces (lots of untidy draperies, different textures, materials) often he uses velvety, striped or wet ground or even water filled ground. And there are many other nuances I noticed this artist uses. But the overall effect it brings , I could try interpret, is the still silent as if everything has just hushed for a moment.. It seems this artist try’s to capture the moment when the character forgets the surrounding everything and stops for an instance to leave the head empty.
And there’s a strange feeling of ‘the deep’ and ‘the thick’ about the atmosphere. And it’s particularly interesting that the air feels very physical, as if we could grab a hand full of air, touch it.

‘He scopes real-world setting like a location scout, but then inflects this scenery with an uncanny poetical symbolism and psychoanalytical subtext’ (Augustine:457)

‘For Crewdson, cataclysm is registered as a vagrant narrative of love, death, pregnancy, age, isolation, explosion, or arson’ (Augustine:457)



Articles and images:
http://www.luhringaugustine.com/index.php?mode=artists&object_id=66