GREGORY CREWDSON

Influenced by movies and art, this photographer has become a true original

Gregory Crewdson is one of the most prominent fine-art photographers working today. Influenced by photographers including Diane Arbus, painters such as Edward Hopper and film-makers such as David Lynch, his images predominantly show strange, intriguing or unsettling scenes set in suburban America. Elaborately arranged, the pictures seem to show preoccupied people at moments of reflection, or contemplating strange events that have just happened.

What’s his background?

Born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1962, the son of a psychoanalyst, Crewdson studied at Purchase College, State University of New York, where he discovered his passion for photography. He later studied for his Master of Fine Arts at the Yale School of Art and graduated in 1985.

What was his early work like?

One of his first series, made from 1992 to 1997 and titled Natural Wonder, was influenced by museum dioramas. These carefully set-up scenes are a dark and sinister take on the natural world, incorporating stuffed birds and other animals, and sometimes human limbs lying in the tangled undergrowth.

Another series, Fireflies (1996), was very different – a series of black-andwhite images of firefly swarms at night – while Hover (1996), also shot in black and white, showed surreal suburban scenes shot from an elevated perspective.

How has his work developed?

Crewdson arrived at the style and themes most often associated with his work in

Twilight (1998-2002). Shot in colour, these large-scale images show interior and exterior scenes where the normal mixes with the paranormal. For example, mysterious spotlights shine from the sky and a young woman floats on deep water that has flooded her house. His most famous series is Beneath the Roses (2003-8), which further explores the dark side of small-town America.

How does he work?

For much of his career, Crewdson’s approach to making still images has been similar to that of a film director. He has worked on location or on a sound stage employing a large crew, continuous lighting and models playing roles as if acting a scene. His complex photographs are carefully planned in advance to create the mood he wants to convey.

Why do his images often seem to be shot in the evening?

Crewdson says, “I have always been fascinated by the poetic condition of twilight – by its transformative quality, its power of turning the ordinary into something otherworldly. My wish is for the narrative in the pictures to work within that circumstance. It is that sense of in-between-ness that interests me.” Why is he in the news? An exhibition of his most recent series, Cathedral of

the Pines, will be on show at the Photographers’ Gallery in London from 23rd June to 8th October. thephotographersgallery. org.uk