Through the Lens of: Gregory Crewdson

Gregory Crewdson imagines a world all his own—one we would never see if not for the extravagant lengths he takes to re-create his imagination. A pioneer of staged, cinematic photography, Crewdson constructs a truly unique brand of uncanny, ambiguous scenarios—but at no small cost. The artist is the proprietor of a film crew-like ensemble, complete with over 40 members who arm his sets with fog and rain-making machines, fire hoses, professional lighting suspended from trees—all in six-week efforts for a single snap.

Who is to thank for Crewdson’s inspired practice? For one, his father—a psychoanalyst who introduced him to Diane Arbus as the age of ten—who set up his practice in the basement of the family home where a young Crewdson would listen to sessions through the floorboards. “In a way, it’s become a working metaphor for me, for my job as an artist,” he once said. “Search beneath the surface of things for an unexpected sense of mystery, something that’s secret.”

Explore related genes: Staged Photography, Cinematic, Suburbia