Comments on: Gregory Crewdson’s Photography Sets Are Really Intense

By: Jimmybond

Jimmybond — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 18:08:39 +0000

I love his work and the way he achieves it! I have his Twilight book and its one of my favorite photography books from my collection.

By: JM

JM — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 17:41:39 +0000

Fascinating and inciteful-both the man and the comments here.

From where I sit….is he an artist? Yes. A director? Yes. Does he have (a) vision? Absolutely. Is he a photographer? To me, no.

(If i do a rudimentary sketch of an idea for a sculpture, and then stand over someone saying “a little more here and a little less there” while he/she chips away at a piece of marble–i may be an artist, and i may be a visionary. but i’m not a sculptor!)

By: Jay

Jay — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 12:53:41 +0000

While alot of his work looks pretty interesting I think if I saw Brief Encounter on it’s own I wouldn’t be drawn to it enough to look at the details that are trying to tell the story. Perhaps if one of his images that’s better able to stand on it’s own had been featured we would see the importance of the large production.

By: A.R.

A.R. — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 06:57:34 +0000

These comments are really intense.

By: Shane Parker

Shane Parker — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 04:15:28 +0000

Very weird comments. There is NO SUCH THING as “too much” when it comes to photography and art in general. Period.

This whole process looks like a lot of fun to me. I do nothing like this, in fact, I shoot boring product photography all week every week. You know what? 99% of my time is “directing” — setting up the product and the product environment. Prep and post work is the majority of most photographers careers, the time actually spent pressing the shutter release is miniscule in comparison!

Great BTS video, IMO.

By: Eric

Eric — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 22:17:42 +0000

My question is how does someone get the money to fund setups like this? Are all of these works commissioned? If he can make it work for him then go for it.

By: Eric

Eric — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 12:55:07 +0000

I find it funny that so many of you go and say it’s way too much, but then praise the end result. If the end is as fantastic as it is, how can it be too much?
And if you had the budget to do such extravagant set ups, wouldn’t you? I’d give it a shot for sure. Sure, a lot of people can do a lot with less, but this is what he’s chosen to do, and it works!
What you see in the image, is what he sees in his head before the image comes to life. And the fact that he’s able to show viewers what’s in his head as well as he does makes him an amazing photographer.

By: dhani borges

dhani borges — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 12:38:57 +0000

Yes, it would seem that he is more of a painter than a photographer….. Just look at the shot from the video and then look at a bunch of Edward Hopper paintings.

By: Wayne Leone

Wayne Leone — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 12:30:02 +0000

Meant to add, I’m a fan of Drew Gardner who creates similar surreal images but on a way more manageable budget, and, in my opinion, more interesting images.

By: Wayne Leone

Wayne Leone — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 12:28:48 +0000

I agree with most of the sentiments expressed above. I commend his process but I would have gone further. What I mean is, if I went to the trouble/expense that he seems to have gone through, I would have added a lot more intrigue into the image. I would have added a lot more areas of interest in the image that only become evident when you look at the image over and over. In this image above there’s just the girl in the cafe, the guy walking away and the car rounding the corner. So for me, the production above is a bit over the top for the image that he created.