Cathedral Of The Pines- Gregory Crewdson

In August I visited The Photographers Gallery in London to see Gregory Crewdson’s exhibition – Cathedral Of the Pines. The exhibition consisted of a series of 31 large scale photographs of different, unconnected situations and different people all set in a small rural town in Becket, Massachusetts, conveying a variety of intense human relations in a isolated area in the countryside. Crewdson’s style was inspired by 19th century American and European paintings and old cinema. The connection can be seen through the similar tableau style composition and positions of the characters.

Crewdson, G. Mother and Daughter, (2014)

I found this exhibition really interesting how a huge feeling of confusion is created. The numbness of in their lost, outward gaze creates an absence of emotional connection to the real world and the person who they are with. However, their nudity creates a sense of intimacy and vulnerability between the subjects.  This play on connection and separation of the subjects creates a running tension throughout the whole exhibition. Also a  juxtaposition of intimacy and isolation is not only created by the motionless figures but the vastness, the stillness of the environment they are surrounded by, a sense of loneliness and detachment from the world is spawn by being in a constant, dull, gloomy, cold setting of winter in a small town in the forest.

Crewdson, G. The Pickup Truck, (2014)

I also found the absence of a connection, a narrative or explanation of what’s happening in the pictures psychologically impacting. This makes their strange actions/settings (such as standing still outside in the snow, standing nude on a riverbed or laying nude on a flatbed of a pickup truck) even more intense as without any clue of an explanation they become arcane. Their ambiguity leads the viewers to a challenge of making up their own impressions of the situation, create their own stories, their own conclusions.

Crewdson, G. The Den, (2013)

Crewdson, G. Woman at Sink, (2014)