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By: Keiran O'Shea
Date: 11th Apr 08
Format: Book
Motivation: Pimp your coffee table
What:
Beneath the Roses
Who:
Gregory Crewdson
Gregory Crewdson’s Beneath the Roses reveals his elaborately choreographed, large-scale photographs which blur the line between cinema and photography.
Hisnew pictures take place, often at dusk, in unnamed American towns,streets, and homes which show subjects caught in transition and lacedwith ambiguity. A woman sits on her bed having dragged a rose bushthrough her house, a man in a forest is digging up suitcases, and alittle boy stares up at a bridge as his friends vanish in the mist. Theeffect is both mesmerising and unsettling as a heady cocktail ofanxiety and intrigue is created. Crewdson’s talent lies in making theimmediately epic become painstakingly intricate. He encourages readersto look around corners, peer into windows, and look around trees, evenif they are somewhat worried about what they might find.
Includedtowards the end of the book are production stills, lighting charts,sketches, and architectural plans that provide an insight into the manbehind the pictures and raise appreciation for the creative exertionthe shoots require. There's also an essay by acclaimed fiction writer Russell Banks who has much more room to articulate the genius of Crewdson’s work than we do here.