In his opening essay of this volume of photographs, Russell Banks describes the cinematic qualities of Crewdson's work; in particular, how "the pictures are assembled and staged." Though not necessarily immediately obvious in all of the individual pictures, after looking for awhile the viewer does begin to recognize the artificiality of the moments. This is not necessarily a bad thing, however. In many cases, particularly when the setting is an exterior, it works very well. The eye searches out the odd detail in the landscape. In the interiors, however, it seems to work less well. In these, the overall effect seems to be oddity and garishness.

More interesting is the theme of isolation that runs through these photos. Even in the shots where more than one person is present, each seems trapped inside their own space. Raised to an even higher degree in some of the wide exteriors, you end up searching out the individual who is nearly swallowed up by the rest of the picture. Perhaps it is that very searching quality required by some of the photographs that makes them the most moving of the group.

When I first received this book, I wasn't sure if I would like it. I was first put off by the unwieldiness of its size--bigger than a normal volume and wider than it is high. As I looked through the photographs and grew to like many of them, I realized the importance of the book's size and shape--to take advantage of the movie aspect ratio Crewdson uses as well as the need for as much space as possible in his wide, detailed exterior shots.

In fact, I went to see a gallery presentation of some of the photographs in this volume. The prints hanging on the wall were large, perhaps six feet or more wide, which I thought did much better justice to Crewdson's work. I found this experience to be of great benefit. When I came home and looked through the book again, I was moved to look even more closely at some of the pictures, seeking out that isolation and detail.

Still, as I said, I think Crewdson's work is uneven. The exteriors, for the most part, greatly outdo the interiors and there is a tendency towards a garishness I don't like in some of his work. However, when he hits the right notes, his landscapes are as beautiful and interesting as anything I've seen.

The book is fantastic! However to my horror it was packed very badly and the book arrived scratched and a big chunk taken out of the cover. Amazon expects me to pay for all shipping costs to get a refund. Since I live in Australia the return shipping would surpass the value of the books sent. I emailed Amazon with this issue 2 weeks ago and NO REPLY!


DO NOT BUY FINE ART BOOKS FROM AMAZON!!

The first thing Russell Banks mentions in the book's introduction is the comparison between Crewdson's work and Hollywood. Not surprising of course because the photos are produced like the movies only here it's one shot at a time. Looking at the fascinating production photos at the back of the book I'm reminded of Winston Link, another photographer who went to endless trouble for the one shot and mostly in small town America, too.

Crewdson provides you with forty-nine content rich photos, you have to provide everything else and that is not difficult because the people and situations before your eyes pull you into their lives. What is she thinking, is she speaking to him, what is he doing, why are they together? I thought the small town setting ideal for these tableaux, the streets, houses and people seem to fit together and allow the viewer to focus on the characters. Maybe the plates should have been loose in a box making it easier for the viewer to create an ever changing scenario according to their sequence.

I was rather disappointed though with part of the book's production. The photos, thankfully suitable larger than those in Twilight, are only printed in 175dpi. These images are saturated with detail and texture and I would have thought a minimum of 200 or preferably 250dpi would be necessary to bring out their quality. So many of them have a long depth of field but also feature some small detail or frozen action that is important: a person in a car, the items on a bedside table or people seen through the window of a motel room.

Like Twilight the back of this book has chapters on Location and Soundstage, both have production shots (unfortunately not captioned) and drawings to show the amazing amount of work that goes into these photos. A look at the Production Credits also confirms this (and reinforces the movie connection) with Lighting, Best Boys, Gaffers, Key Grip, Special Effects, Prop Masters, Wardrobe, Transportation, Hair and Make-up, Casting, Catering, Legal and more. Oh yes, let's not forget Swamp Design by Buzz Gray, too.

Overall a remarkable book but if you are new to his work have a look at Gregory Crewdson which includes twenty plates from Beneath the Roses.

***FOR AN INSIDE LOOK click 'customer images' under the cover.

The first thing Russell Banks mentions in the book's introduction is the comparison between Crewdson's work and Hollywood. Not surprising of course because the photos are produced like the movies only here it's one shot at a time. Looking at the fascinating production photos at the back of the book I'm reminded of Winston Link, another photographer who went to endless trouble for the one shot and mostly in small town America, too.

Crewdson provides you with forty-nine content rich photos, you have to provide everything else. Maybe the plates should have been loose in a box making it easier to create an ever changing scenario according to their sequence. I thought the small town setting ideal for these tableaus, the streets, houses and people seem to fit together and allow the viewer to focus on characters and their lives.

I was rather disappointed though with part of the book's production. The photos, thankfully suitable larger than those in Twilight, are only printed in 175dpi. These images are saturated with detail and texture and I would have thought a minimum of 200 or preferably 250dpi would be necessary to bring out their quality. So many of them have a long depth of field but also feature some small detail or frozen action that is important: a person in a car, the items on a bedside table or people seen through the window of a motel room.

Like Twilight the back of this book has chapters on Location and Soundstage, both have production shots (unfortunately not captioned) and drawings to show the amazing amount of work that goes into these photos. A look at the Production Credits also confirms this (and reinforces the movie connection) with Lighting, Best Boys, Gaffers, Key Grip, Special Effects, Prop Masters, Wardrobe, Transportation, Hair and Make-up, Casting, Catering, Legal and more. Oh yes, let's not forget Swamp Design by Buzz Gray, too.

Overall a remarkable book but if you are new to his work have a look at Gregory Crewdson which includes twenty plates from Beneath the Roses.

***FOR AN INSIDE LOOK click 'customer images' under the cover.

There are several books that contain Crewdson's cinematic photography, and I think that most people would agree that this one is the best so far.

In his other books, people have complained that the images were not large enough. This book has larger images. The book contains 49 plates, which measure about 14.5" x 9.5"

The book also has photographs and sketches of a lot of the work that went into the final photographs, such as set design, lighting, props, and more.

Some of the photos in this book are also in the book "1985-2005", but they are larger in this book.

The book still doesn't come close to capturing how breathtaking his full-size 4' x 5' photographs are, but it does a better job than any of his other books. It would make a great addition to any photography book collection.