Gregory Crewdson is an American photographer known for staged photos that resemble film stills through their use of professional lighting and portrayal of characters. The document discusses replicating Crewdson's style through multiple photo shoots that employ dramatic lighting to tell a story about a character struggling with mental illness. Photos from the shoots are presented and discussed, with cropping used to refine compositions and remove distracting elements, resulting in a final set of three photos the author feels achieve Crewdson's "film still" look and storytelling approach.

1. Looking at Gregory Crewdson
PHOTOGRAPHY

2. Gregory Crewdson is a contemporary
photographer born in 1962 in Brooklyn, New
York. He takes photos using professional
lighting equipment, the same as large,
Hollywood movies do. The finished
photograph therefore resembles a film still.
His photos usually look at American families
and the disturbing realities. I liked how most
movies glamorised American families,
portraying an ideal “breakfast cereal” family.
However Crewdson’s photos almost
exaggerate the disturbing reality of ‘normal’
families and portray a story about a character.

3. MY IMAGES
First shoot

4. To achieve the same kind of photos as Crewdson I used two different lights; a
light panel and a spot light. I set them up to achieve different shadows and
dramatic lighting. By doing this I was able to achieve a tense and sinister
photo, much like Crewdson.
In my photos I presented a character of a young woman struggling with some
sort of mental illness. I portrayed this by using dark and ominous lighting.

7. I cropped this photo to remove the pictures on the wall as well as the window frame.
This gave the photo a more professional feel. I like the lighting on the side of her face,
especially how it casts a shadow on the wall.

9. Again I cropped this photo to remove the photos on the left. I like the reflection
on the mirror. However because of the lighting, smudges on the mirror show up
more. Next time I would also think about the set more. For example I wouldn’t
have the guitar in the background.

11. SECOND SHOOT

12. Using what I had learnt from last time meant I was able to set out the scene
more like I wanted it to be. I was able to use the character that will feature in
my final piece as well as props (book). From my first shoot I learnt to diffuse
the light by reflecting it off a wall and then to have a brighter spotlight on the
person’s face.
SECOND SHOOT

16. FINAL THREE

17. I cropped the pictures to get the composition I wanted as well as
removing some things that didn’t fit into the scene. I feel like the
final 3 photos reflect a story and have the film still feel, same as
Crewdson's photos have. I didn’t change the exposure of any of
the pictures as I was able to achieve the light I wanted while
shooting by using a spotlight and light panel.
FINAL THREE