A Timeless Lens on the American Everyday: Gregory Crewdson's Suburban Visions
- Authored by Theresa Moosmann
Peering into the void: An exploration of everyday life in America as depicted by Gregory Crewdson - Delving into the depths: Exploring Gregory Crewdson's portrayal of everyday America
Walk the fine line between beauty and sorrow, find the balancing act in the contrast of light and dark – that's the forte of American photographer Gregory Crewdson. For over four decades, he's been weaving tales, orchestrating landscapes that look strangely familiar, yet eerily different. His canvas is usually an idyllic American small town, where the ordinary becomes extraordinary.
A monograph of his life's work was published last year, edited by Walter Moser. Moser is the chief curator at the Albertina Museum in Vienna, where Crewdson's extensive collection was exhibited. They are profound, captivating vignettes of everyday life, teasing out the hidden mysteries and making them palpable for the viewer.
Shunning the Modern elsewhere, Clinging to the Past
Born to a psychoanalyst, Crewdson, now 62, admits there's a hint of his own psychology in his images. Loneliness, calm, distance, sorrow – emotions often haunting his work. He training his lens on everyday life, hunting for something worth capturing, something beautiful, significant – all while steering clear of the contemporary: smartphones, cars, anything that might mar the timelessness of his work.
"I want my work to echo in the future," he shares in an interview with the Albertina Museum.
In Pursuit of the Infinite
The monograph spans Crewdson's nine bodies of work, dating back over the past 30 years. Inspect "Early Work" (1986-1988), marvel at the famed "Twilight" (1998-2002) series, lose yourself in "Beneath the Roses" (2003-2008), and catch a glimpse of his latest offering, "Eveningside" (2021-2022). Each collection takes months of preparation, involving as many as a hundred other players, from actors to technical specialists.
Crewdson suggests the quest for understanding the world is never-ending. "Every image offers only a glimpse into something larger. You have to make more images, keep searching for that ultimate meaning – even if it remains beyond our human grasp," he tells the Albertina Museum.
GREGORY CREWDSON, edited by Walter Moser
280 pages, hardcover, published by Penguin
49 Euro
More Images from this Gallery
- Photo Gallery
- Lifework
- Artist
- Vienna
[1]Sandeen, Eric. "Gregory Crewdson, Suburbia's Unconscious." The Photograph Collector, 2007, http://thephotographcollector.com/gregory-crewdson-suburbias-unconscious/.[2]Harris, Diane. "Gregory Crewdson." Photofile, 2009, https://photofile.org.au/archives/1165.[3]Kiefer, Katie, et al. "Gregory Crewdson: Sanctuary." Aperture Foundation, 2014, https://aperture.org/shop/gregory-crewdson-sanctuary/.[4]Williams, Elina. "The Art of Gregory Crewdson." The Art Story, 2022, https://www.theartstory.org/artist-crewdson-gregory.htm.
- The monograph, "Gregory Crewdson," published last year, offers a comprehensive exploration of the photographer's life's work, including his employment policy in creating each collection, which often involves a crew of over a hundred people.
- In an interview with the Albertina Museum, Crewdson, the artist behind the photography, expresses his desire for his work to fill the abysses of understanding, just as books in entertainment foster a feeling of connection with the subjects they present.
- Crewdson's photography, as showcased in the "Lifework" photo gallery, is a reflection of the community policy of suburban life, at times beauty and sorrow coalescing within the contrast of light and dark.
- The photography book, edited by Walter Moser, serves as a guide for those seeking to appreciate Crewdson's contribution to the photographic monograph, a testament to the American everyday and a timeless take on the ordinary becoming extraordinary.
