Gregory Crewdson, Beneath the Roses

There’s a new Gregory Crewdson exhibit at Gagosian in NYC in September. I am looking forward to seeing his photos in person; however, these are black and white portraits of an empty Cinecitta studios in Rome. Which is sort of a funny full-circle thing with his work, but what I liked about Between the Roses and Twilight was the way that he took the ordinary moments, particularly, mundane life in burned-out western Massachusetts, and elevated them to mythological dreamscapes. These Cinecitta photos seem crippingly ordinary in comparison. I suppose you’re supposed to think of all the films shot there, but it’s just a burned-out imitation of a town. An imitation of a location, with the energy of ghosts playing pretend. I’m completely biased, I have to admit - I’m in love and very familiar with western Massachusetts, and there’s a lot of rotting beauty there, industry that bloomed and died, so I find elevating that with careful photography to be quite moving, overall.

Here’s an interesting piece on Pretty Little Liars, citing Edward Hopper and Crewsdon as strong influences on directorial choices. Higher-brow than you thought!

Other things I am quite excited for, in the near future:
YA books: Not that Kind of Girl by Siobhan Vivian, The Kid Table by Andrea Siegel Not YA: Freedom by Franzen. Fury by Koren Zalickas (she also wrote Smashed, about teenage binge drinking/alcoholism. It makes sense as a next book, and my guess is that it will do well, but it’s hard not to make the joke that she could’ve just written “I’m an Irish Catholic: the memoir.” Even if she isn’t). Rebecca Traister’s book on the 2008 election. My book that I just bought about economics.