Part.5 Essay Draft

Gregory Crewdson is a famous American photographer who is best known for elaborately staged, surreal scenes of American homes and neighborhoods. Crewdson's photography is often described as cinematic and each image operates as a compacted drama, with the significance spread between various visual points within the image. The use of technology visually enhanced Crewdson's body of works, depicting surrealist views of provincial American lifestyle. Crewdson also enhanced visual language used in his works by using technology. A good example is in one of Gregory Crewdson's series of work; 'Beneath the Roses' which is a body of work composed of twenty large-scaled photographs.  Crewdson uses constructed backgrounds, computer graphics and digital manipulation to blur the distinction between reality and fiction. He upsets all our traditional ideas about truth and reality in photography. Today, where things are mostly unachieved without using technology, Crewdson has significantly portrayed surrealism in his work with the support of technology.

In the body of work 'Beneath the Roses', meaning is communicated using visual language and media which is enhanced by digital technology.  The works are epic in scale and intimate in scope, these visually breathtaking photographs blur the distinctions between cinema and photography, reality and fantasy, what has happened and what is to come. Lighting in his work greatly impacts on one of the most important elements of visual language, colour.  He used light and colour to tell a story, to take an everyday situation and transform it into something cinematic and theatrical. Crewdson uses varieties of lighting sources, numbered upto fifty. He operates lighting experts to contrast the mood of the work, trying to create the surrealistic American neighbourhood. Crewdson tries everything in order to achieve absolute clarity in a photograph.(Focal Point: beneath the roses) In an interview, Crewdson mentioned that he creates symbolism as the smallest details have the important meanings. The body of work has vivid and clarified colour scheme and the focal point is mainly the professional actors used. In the three artworks called 'Ophelia' and two 'Untitled', it has a clear central point where the model is standing. There is a sense of movement in the piece 'Untitled' (2005) where a man is standing alone in the rain. The clarity of rain in the image gives the viewers a movement in the direction of the rain. Crewdson has printing methods which allows him to hold onto all the subtle details in his work. Crewdson said, "For the first time, I was not restricted by printing technology. I'm completely invested in the idea of trying to make the image as beautiful, as mysterious and as powerful as possible. The technology allows me to reproduce exactly what I envision". In his work, he explores the narrative powers of photography; how much of a story can be compressed into a single image? (Gregory Crewdson Retrospective) Crewdson commented on the use of technology, "Though technology is only the means through which a photographer's vision is revealed, it has dramatically changed what an individual artist can do," he said. "I am absolutely thrilled to know that I can now make all my final prints in my studio while maintaining control over the entire process."(Focal Point: beneath the roses)

Another important quality is the emotional responses in engaging the viewers. In Crewdson's work, the photographs portray emotionally charged moments of seemingly ordinary individuals caught in ambiguous and often disquieting circumstances. Emotional meaning behind the work and the important source of inspiration lies in Crewdson’s youth. (Gregory Crewdson Retrospective) As the child of a psychotherapist working from home, he soon learned that each individual experiences reality in his own way. The artwork 'Ophelia' communicates emotional responses with the viewers. The use of lighting technology creates a surrealistic view of the woman half floating on water. The messy background of the house, the model's face and the colour scheme of the whole image engages an emotional twitch. Adding on, the title of the work contains an important meaning as Ophelia is one of the characters that drowns herself in the play 'Hamlet'.  The
His 'craziness' as he calls himself and the mystery shoots engage the audience to see the surrealism in his works. Crewdson's photographs provide the unarguably compelling experience of seeing beyond the ordinary into a deeper psychological state. (Focal Point: beneath the roses) The audience is able to engage emotional responses through the use of visual language enhanced by technology.

Today, surrealism takes a great part in visual art. Crewdson has combines his use of technology in order to create surrealistic artworks. 

Gregory Crewdson Retrospective, http://www.photographie.com/?evtid=112093(8.11.10)

Art Reviews: Beneath the roses,http://www.citybeat.com/cincinnati/article-4489-art-review-beneath-the-roses.html (8.11.10)

Focal Point: beneath the roses, http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/jsp/Pro/FocalPoints/Story/BeneathTheRoses.do?BV_UseBVCookie=yes (8.11.10)