gregory crewdson

After being trapped inside a staircase for the time fo the snail-paced crawl up the 5th floor I was struck by the immediacy of the atmospheric photographs of Gregory Crewdson’s. Super sharp, perfectly composed Vermeerian pictures were tackling the theme of human and nature relationship presenting mainly naked figures inside cabins in snow-covered woods. It was intriguing how the landscape seen through the windows had the same focus as the figure in the foreground placing them at the same level in the compositional hierarchy. The snow in the background was much brighter than the indoor scene not letting one fully concentrate on the interior creating mysterious tension.
The photos looked so professional and careful with the slightest detail that I was wondering whether the cabins were pop-ups to suit the artist’s demand for preconceived atmosphere of his vision. No place for chance. They were very staged and set in the 90s America, yet all taken in 2013. What’s the need of going back in time? Just vain style?  The pictures had washed out colours and stylish interiors, many trees. Does it always go together with the deadpan facial expression of the models? After 3 floors of the show I realised all pictures were made according to the same agenda. What seemed striking at first made the whole show extremely boring in the end, having the same issue as the ‘Nocturnal Animals’, that is paying so much attention to style that the result is more less contentless.