Mirroring the cinematic style of his mammoth
digital C-prints, Crewdson is surrounded by an equally
grand production for each work. The leader of the
“directorial style” in contemporary photography,
Crewdson isn’t found behind the camera. Preferring
the job of “making and not taking,” he orchestrates
a cast of characters including a permanent director
of photography (Richard Sands), a special effects
team, casting director, lighting team and portable
storm snowmaking crew that creates the exposures
Crewdson will later digitally combine. Elaborate sets
and sleepy Massachusetts towns (Lee, Lexington,
Becket), natural and stage lighting, reality and
fantasy are intermingled to produce crisp, plasma-
like images that sit next to Arbus, Sherman and
Eggleston in almost every major American museum.
Explorations of his depictions of American life’s
netherside have been penned for decades by
noted authors ranging from Joyce Carol Oates to
Rick Moody. Even celebrities have allowed him to
capture their banal, yet eerily vibrant presences.
Against this backdrop of constant professional
exposure emerges often-repeated tales of
Crewdson’s formative childhood: afternoons spent
with ear pressed against the forbidden office door
of his father, a Freudian psychiatrist; a holiday party
in Brooklyn where an unclothed hostess appeared
without warning on a stairwell. Yet amidst thoughtful
laughter about these stories, he pointedly recalls a
lesser-known, dominant figure in his past. “My mother
was just as important an influence,” Crewdson
says. As a dance therapist, she might not have the
caché of a Freudian psychoanalyst, but, “I can
see her influence in how I address the relationship
between mind and body,” Crewdson says. “Years
later, she’s the one who’s still helping me distill my
memories.” Sometimes through her own lens. Very
distraught about her son’s memory of childhood
eavesdropping, as discussed in Rick Moody’s essay
in
Twilight
, Crewdson’s mother insisted on editing
his recollection from “he heard” to “he imagines he
heard…” in the next edition.
The private part of Crewdson’s production
process happens long after his ensemble has gone
home, editing and layering of images in his studio,
behind closed doors. “It’s not until I return to the
photos [some of which aren’t developed until years
Cover
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