(Crewdson at work)

Gregory Crewdson is best known for his cinematic display & larger-than-life sets and resulting images. With images that measure up to 5 feet in height, he shoots at a very high resolution with a large format camera. He begins the process with color film, taking multiples of a single scene. He will work to create & cultivate a single set for months before it is ready, involving local workers as well as his permanent staff to do everything from planting sod to obtaining permits to close major roads. His on-staff cinematographer and lighting designer are the two most crucial to the process. With the resulting film from the set he will work for months to digitally enhance the image, even using composite elements from multiple shots to create the right result. Often he will shoot various locations and models for the sole purpose of later compositing them. He has cited his influences as both classic documentary photographers such as Walker Evans and the work of cinematographers such as Steven Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Combining these elements, he recalls images from memory and recreates them with an often eerie result. He has published 6 books of photos, exhibited across the world (including a recent retrospective), and surmounted 3 main photo series that include: Twilight, Beneath the Roses and Sanctuary. Beneath the Roses is his largest photo series, encompassing several years of work. Sanctuary, his newest series, is strikingly different in that it is shot in black and white and features a location outside the U.S. (an abandoned movie set outside Rome).

(Beneath the Roses)(Twilight)

http://www.gagosian.com/exhibitions/september-23-2010–gregory-crewdson

http://www.aperture.org/crewdson/