Gregory Crewdson in a Lonely Place

The American middle-class nightmare: nothing is clean, orderly, idyllic, orromantic. In his perfectly staged, hyper-realistic tableaux, photographerGregory Crewdson (*1962) reveals the claustrophobic limbo and abyss ofspiritual repression that is the typical suburb. Here hushed-up violence,alienation, isolation, and emptiness are nothing new or unfamiliar, butrather part of the everyday neighbourhood experience. Crewdson goes toimmense lengths to set up his apocalyptic scenarios. The richness of detailand mysterious atmosphere of the pictures from his series Beneath the Rosesunfold a surreal, supernatural power of suggestion, which the viewer canhardly elude. No less impressive are the works from Sanctuary, shot in themorbid ruins of Italy's Cinecittŕ, and the unusual nighttime nature photosof Fireflies