Photos taken in the streets, landscape
direct the actors to do something
EX) – man sitting in the back of the car or the driver seat, explain the situation to the woman – direct a woman to pull off the skirt, turn angles of her body, emotion, mood – sad, movement, specific to the angle of a woman standing
“one-second exposure”
“position and hold”
125000 dollars, cost as much as an independent movie
thousand things in the picture are meaning something to be set up
time how long people stand in front of Gregory’s picture,,
The picture is about “Creating a world”
He has image in his head that he wants to get out to the world
towns, neighborhood really back drop to submerged psychological drama.
projection from his own, explored his own anxieties, fears, etc
2002-2008 – most influential series of his work
long-distance swimming > get lost in yourself, sense of being part of a world, certain terror (you can’t see what’s beneath the surface)
“In Beneath the Roses”
old and gothic, almost like a fairy tale, abandoned
the thinking of making a movie starts photography
budget, crew, and schedule, almost like making independent movie
Very much about the detail, everything is in there for reasons, particular color, way > to achieve certain effect.
obsessive and attentive
unlike movie, photograph is frozen, so it should be exact
capture the moment
dynamic between happy and sadness in one scene
sense of disconnect, but moments of possibility
photos are psychology, (influenced) father was psychiatrist
HOME _ Park Slope in Brooklyn, office in the basement – happening was secret, mysterious
-memory of trying to listen to the sessions, put ears to the floorboard
project fantasy of something beneath the surface of things.
Psychological power of photograph – awe and terror
Why father brought him to the museum, not typical for his family to do > amazing motivation for him to become a photographer
The corner, the Madison bar, people hanging out there, lighting, the road, drinking people
Shooting – at location for two days
- preshooting day, setting of light, rehearse of the actual shooting
- day of the shooting, there are so many thing that can go wrong, many things change from what was planned
sunset, 15 minutes after sunset is the time for shooting (20 minutes of shooting) – this environment shortens the shooting time, everything should be precise and ready to go
Colleen> hand to the curb, smoke cigarette, legs stretched, details of a woman, smoke from the car in the background, look more to the camera, angle, facial expression (feel lost)
photographs are made in twilight
perfect moment in a way
the most powerful moment is when everything comes together
perfect beautiful still moment, for that instant, his life makes sense
photography – attempt to preserve the moment, hold onto something
high school – music 70’s “Let me take your foto” NEVER thought he would become a photographer. he didn’t know what he wanted to be.
developed a crush on a girl who was a photographer
when took the first picture, he thought it was something he should keep up with.
stillness and order of the picture, perfectly make sense to him
suburban culture, while he was from Brookyln
At Yale, traditional approach to the medium, tradition of documentary photography
New York – galleries, Cindy Sherman, Laurie Simmons, oppositional way as fictions and constructs
how invent characters and narratives is important in photographs
Blue Velvet, film that changed his view of the world – domestic life, find sort of unexpected mystery
use light and color, documentary and cinematic picture > his style
Lee, etc – Massachusetts towns become his setting
build relationships to the town, people
artists – come back to particular place several times, Hopper – come back to the same place over and over to find the new meaning of those places
setting that has the capacity to tell his story.
anywhere but nowhere, ordinary, beautiful place
ushers – turns out to be a serial killer – closed down the cinema, feeling of the place is particular
location scouting for the pictures
fluorescence of the place – laundry room
emptiness, the abandoned feeling
camera is not in the process of location scouting, he takes mental pictures
Capitalism is failing in a very beautiful ancient landscape
economic,,
photo captures despair or poverty – not political in any way.
He direct everything at the right time, the right place, the right person, movement, expression,
mood, environment give the sense of the photo, details are all directed by him
Details mean something, they are not just there.
Baby photographing was hard, baby need to sleep, not sleeping, hard to control, waiting for hours
woman looking at the baby in a hotel during winter, – what feeling? mood?
