Gregory Crewdson's New Book

A thank you for you, dear reader — a photobook giveaway!

Gregory Crewdson, Untitled, from the series Twilight, 1998-2002. Digital pigment print. The ALBERTINA Museum, Vienna, Permanent loan — Private Collection © Gregory Crewdson

“Every photographer has one story to tell.” — Gregory Crewdson

I revived this photography newsletter on Substack in September 2022. It's hard to believe that was nearly two years ago! Time, as they say, is flying.

When I rebooted FlakPhoto, about 18,000 people were reading. Today, nearly 30,000 people subscribe. That’s remarkable. I’m having more fun writing here than I have in ages, and I’m so grateful that each of you tunes in for my posts. Thank you for looking.

As a token of my appreciation, I’m doing something special this week — giving away a photography book to one of my readers. More on that below.

Many of you are artists, so I suspect you’re familiar with

Gregory Crewdson

. I’m a fan of Crewdson’s work, so I was excited to learn about his new book with Prestel, a retrospective overview of his nearly forty years of imagemaking. Photographers seem to be divided on Crewdson. I’ve written about him previously and very much admire his approach.

I had initially planned to run an excerpt from the book, which was published on the occasion of an enormous exhibition at the ALBERTINA Museum Vienna. But as I researched the exhibition, I thought it would be more fun to show some of the videos the museum produced about Crewdson’s photography. They’re an excellent entry point for those of you who are unfamiliar with his work.

Here’s Crewdson talking about his practice:

And for those who appreciate an academic take, curator Walter Moser does an eloquent job situating Crewdson’s work in the context of photographic history and contemporary culture:

Gregory Crewdson is a hefty book of images and ideas, and there is a lot to digest. If you buy one Crewdson book, this might be it. Here’s how Prestel describes it:

For more than three decades, Gregory Crewdson has been luring viewers into the worlds of his cinematic, highly detailed, and assiduously crafted photographs. This retrospective catalog features images from nine series that represent a broad chronological spectrum of Crewdson’s oeuvre.

Included are selections from Twilight, the eerie and often darkly humorous photographs inspired by Stephen Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind; Beneath the Roses, which illuminates townscapes, forest clearings, and broad, desolate streets with unsettling clarity; the black and white images of Sanctuary, shot on location at the legendary Cinecittà studios on the outskirts of Rome; Cathedral of the Pines, a paean to the beauty and tragedy of a gritty western Massachusetts town; and Eveningside, in which moments of alienation and wonder occur within the confines of quotidian life.

With high-quality reproductions, paper changes, and incisive essays by photography expert Walter Moser and other esteemed art historians, this exhibition catalog reveals why Crewdson’s powerful, elegiac, and painterly photos draw comparisons to old master paintings, staged photography, and auteur cinema.

Gregory Crewdson, Madeline’s Beautify Salon, from the series Eveningside, 2021-2022. Digital pigment print. The ALBERTINA Museum, Vienna, Permanent loan — Private Collection © Gregory Crewdson

Finally, Vanity Fair published an interview with Crewdson this week, which is worth a peek. I love reading artist interviews and appreciated this exchange:

You said earlier that every artist has one story to tell. What’s yours?

Good question. If I knew I wouldn’t have to make the pictures, I guess. I could hint at it, but if I was pushed to try to say it simply, I would say it’s something about searching for something that’s just slightly outside of your grasp. I think almost every picture in one way or another is shaped out of some search for something that’s elusive, and that is usually done through light. All photographs are made with light, but I think mine specifically are concerned with using light as a narrative, because photographs are so limited in terms of the story they can tell. There’s no dialogue. There’s no before and after. There’s no soundtrack. For me, the form, the light is the thing that tells the story.

Isn’t that great? There’s a grandiosity to Crewdson’s imagery that I adore. His legendary shoots are expensive productions akin to big-budget Hollywood films. That love for light and attention to detail is why his photography is so unique — Crewdson’s pictures blend the languages of cinema and painting, and the results are stunning. They’re not for everyone, but I love them. I know many of you do, too.

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Win this book!

I want to get to know you better, dear readers. Submission is easy.

Tell me about yourself in the comments for a chance to win. Where are you based? Are you a photographer? Why do you want this book? Be creative and have fun with this. I’m looking forward to hearing from you!

I'll draw one random winner from the comments on August 19, 2024.

Postage costs are limited, so this giveaway is only open to U.S. residents. I’ll announce our winner next week. Good luck!

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One more thing…

Ben Shapiro made a film about Crewdson in 2012. I saw Gregory Crewdson: Brief Encounters back then and need to see it again. If you haven’t yet, now’s the time. Thanks again for reading, folks. I appreciate you! Take care and be well.

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