Snapshots of dreams that never come true

By Nadin Aloufi

ROME, March 11 - Earlier this month, Rome's Palazzo delle Esposizioni exhibition of American photographer Gregory Crewdson came to an end, but not before John Cabot University photography students had the opportunity to see his spectacular work.

Crewdson is known for creating pictures filled with the drama and emotion of a Hollywood film. His photos capture images of American suburbia, but include disturbing details. This contradicts the idea of the American dream; the images illustrate reality and the unaccomplished dream.   

"He creates something false that appears real, so real that it appears false again," said William Pettit an art studio professor at John Cabot University.

 

 

Crewdson is not only a photographer, but a portrayer of the American life. He presents the pictures in a dream-like style, although many describe his art as a troubling nightmare. 

Crewdson was born in 1962 in Brooklyn. In his teenage years, he was part of a punk group called "The Speedies," which were a big hit around their town. One of their hit songs "Let Me Take Your Foto" shows the path Crewdson would take later in his life.  He received his Masters degree of Fine Arts from Yale University, and taught there from 1993.   

"Hover", "Twilight", and "Beneath the Roses" are some names of Crewdson's photography themes. They contain the same basic styles and ideas.  Most of the photographs are images and examples of American suburbs. Actors and cinema crew members are hired to create a photograph that costs millions of dollars.

The people in the photographs are usually expressionless. However, the atmosphere and small details in the pictures are as important as the subject since they carry the emotions and feelings of the photograph.

Pettit said that Crewdson's images "are about a dream that never comes true.  They are about complacency and regret." That’s because some of Crewdson's photography illustrates the American dream and the movement to the West.  However, "I don’t think that’s exclusively American," said Pettit. "America just represents a good example of that, as it is a good example of capitalism."

Katie Palumbo, a photography student at JCU from Arizona described his work as "refreshing," noting Crewdson embodies a different, some might say "realistic", side of America.