Gregory Crewdson
Since the link I found in the textbook was no longer active, I did a research, found and watched the youtube video "Gregory Crewdson - Close Up - Ovation https://youtu.be/RywAfP4KFcY (accessed 30/08/2018).
In the first part of the video Gregory Crewdson explains his philosophy and workflow; in the second part there is an example of the development of a set in a snowy sunset.
Crewdson states that his work is mainly built on driving around a location if outdoor, or, if indoor, in composing the set, like in a film stage. He is not comfortable in holding a camera, so he never does: there is a tripod and somebody taking the picture for him. He checks the entire stage and the gives the "... and hold ....".
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| Gregory Crewdson, from https://www.stilearte.it/le-fotografie-di-gregory-crewdson-le-pulsioni-oscure-come-in-un-film-meglio-di-un-film/ (accessed 30/08/2018) |
Outdoor scenes are particularly challenging, because Crewdson and his crew have to take care of many details and plan natural/artificial/ambient lights, characters, weather conditions etc.
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| Gregory Crewdson, from https://www.stilearte.it/le-fotografie-di-gregory-crewdson-le-pulsioni-oscure-come-in-un-film-meglio-di-un-film/ (accessed 30/08/2018) |
In the same video Crewdson says that his work has been influenced by his memory of childhood: his father was a psychoanalyst and worked at home, in the basement. The kid Gregory was often at home, listening from upstairs, curious to realize/understand what was going on with patients.
All this confirms what I saw in a lot of Crewdon's works, that, yes, there is more than just the research of aesthetic beauty and composition. In some shots characters are standing like in the still of a movie, a movie talking about a story that the young Crewdson imagined while listening to his father's analysys sessions.
I believe that he succeeds in making a part of his work "psychological", if it means that the story telling is based on characters psychologically weak/disturbed acting in a bizarre context and a surreal scene.
Nevertheless there is a deep research of the perfect composition and the "moment of grace": this approach is well exposed in the previous video and youtube video "Brief Encounters"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hYNt2byQj4 (accessed 30/08/2018)
where Crewdson states that when he has reached the perfect stage and the perfect moment, his life makes sense.
My "rational" main goal when I make a picture is to tell a story, but my other goal is to have a fine composition and a good aesthetic.
However it often happens that I take a shot just for the sake of shooting what I feel is a nice composition, and I believe that this is all about an aesthetic feeling, that, by my opinion, comes together with the need to make a technically perfect shot.
My final choice goes to a nice, not necessarily perfect, shot that tells a story.
Crewdson's work are technically perfect and full of content, so I have to say that I became his fan.
Nevertheless there is a deep research of the perfect composition and the "moment of grace": this approach is well exposed in the previous video and youtube video "Brief Encounters"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hYNt2byQj4 (accessed 30/08/2018)
where Crewdson states that when he has reached the perfect stage and the perfect moment, his life makes sense.
My "rational" main goal when I make a picture is to tell a story, but my other goal is to have a fine composition and a good aesthetic.
However it often happens that I take a shot just for the sake of shooting what I feel is a nice composition, and I believe that this is all about an aesthetic feeling, that, by my opinion, comes together with the need to make a technically perfect shot.
My final choice goes to a nice, not necessarily perfect, shot that tells a story.
Crewdson's work are technically perfect and full of content, so I have to say that I became his fan.
