{"id":6069,"date":"2012-12-06T12:14:05","date_gmt":"2012-12-06T19:14:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/santafefilmfestival.com\/index\/?p=6069"},"modified":"2018-07-17T20:00:06","modified_gmt":"2018-07-18T02:00:06","slug":"photographic-alchemy-a-preview-of-gregory-crewdson-brief-encounters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/santafefilmfestival.com\/index\/photographic-alchemy-a-preview-of-gregory-crewdson-brief-encounters\/","title":{"rendered":"Photographic Alchemy: A Preview of \u201cGregory Crewdson: Brief Encounters\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

The highest compliment I can pay to \u201cGregory Crewdson: Brief Encounters\u201d is that it allows the viewer an excellent chance to watch an artist at work. That endorsement sounds a bit hollow until you understand the complexity of Mr. Crewdson\u2019s work.<\/p>\n

Crewdson is ostensibly a photographer, taking pictures of what might be generically called \u201curban loneliness.\u201d He is constantly showing people alone in hotel rooms, sitting on street corners, and trudging through the snow. The catch is that these are not just \u201clife as it happens\u201d snapshots. Crewdson stages his photographs in the same way a filmmaker makes a movie. He creates sets, hires a director of photography, and puts special attention into casting.<\/p>\n

The documentary screening at the 2012 Santa Fe Film Festival artfully catches the viewer up on Crewdson\u2019s development. He started off wanting to follow in his father\u2019s footsteps and become a psychiatrist. Crewdson recalls how his father\u2019s at-home therapy practice inspired the sense of \u201csecrets\u201d in his work. He would attempt (unsuccessfully) to listen in to the sessions, knowing it was supposed to be confidential.<\/p>\n

\"Gregory<\/a><\/p>\n

His attention wavered (because of a girl) towards photography. Crewdson\u2019s ambitions were ultimately complex, as he was focused on capturing the exact immediacy of \u201cthe moment.\u201d This lead him to begin staging scenes to create a heightened reality. I would describe this as real life with a little something extra. The most memorable of early photos (for me) is of a woman literally floating through her living room.<\/p>\n

For David Lynch Fans: Crewdson talks about the influence of Blue Velvet on his desire to \u201clook underneath the surface of suburban life.\u201d<\/p>\n

I mentioned the real joy is in watching Crewdson work. \u201cBrief Encounters\u201d follows him as he develops his most complex series of photos called \u201cBeneath the Roses.\u201d He builds an entire sound stage, finds a multitude of \u201creal life\u201d locations, and admits having an enormous amount of anxiety over the whole thing.<\/p>\n

That is when \u201cBrief Encounters\u201d clicks for me most as a viewer. You can analyze an artist\u2019s work to death. The aftermath of the work is only half the story. What happens during the actual process? Crewdson handles himself like a genuine auteur. He has a well defined vision complete with detailed thoughts about every aspect of his production. Which curtains should be used? How should the lighting bounce precisely off the wall?<\/p>\n

You can simplify matters by saying: \u201cThat is what explains the quality of his work.\u201d I would go a step further than that and use the word: \u201cAlchemy.\u201d There is a strange sort of magic in the way that Crewdson\u2019s ideas come together. I can see why he chooses to let the pictures speak for themselves.<\/p>\n

I recommend \u201cGregory Crewdson: Brief Encounters\u201d to anyone who is genuinely interested in watching the artistic process unfold. Crewdson makes no distinction between film, photography, and psychological insight. The audience for this film should be just as wide ranging.<\/p>\n

– – – – – – – – – –<\/p>\n

\u201cGregory Crewdson: Brief Encounters\u201d will be screening on Friday, December 7 at 6:45pm at the Center for Contemporary Arts.<\/p>\n

More information and complete program and schedule, please visit the Santa Fe Film Festival website<\/a>. To purchase tickets, visit TicketsSantaFe.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cBrief Encounters\u201d follows Crewdson as he develops his most complex series of photos called \u201cBeneath the Roses.\u201d He builds an entire sound stage, finds a multitude of \u201creal life\u201d locations, and admits having an enormous amount of anxiety over the whole thing. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"festival_year":[],"class_list":["post-6069","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":6}},"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/santafefilmfestival.com\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6069","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/santafefilmfestival.com\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/santafefilmfestival.com\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/santafefilmfestival.com\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/31"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/santafefilmfestival.com\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6069"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/santafefilmfestival.com\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6069\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19415,"href":"https:\/\/santafefilmfestival.com\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6069\/revisions\/19415"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/santafefilmfestival.com\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/santafefilmfestival.com\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6069"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/santafefilmfestival.com\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6069"},{"taxonomy":"festival_year","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/santafefilmfestival.com\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/festival_year?post=6069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}