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Title: Beneath The Roses
ISBN: 0810993805
Author:
Publicate Date: 2008-03-01
Publish: 2008-03-01
List Price: $60.00
Average Customer Rating: 4.5
Format: Hardcover
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $34.99
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $34.98
Amazon Merchant Price: $37.80
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| Customer Review: |
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1: thought provoking
shows a spectacular level of creativity, not only from crewsdon himself but to all the other faces behind the scenes, that it surely takes, in order to pull off this type of procuction. like living stage sets, with nature and light used to such surreal advantage.
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2: Truly an amazing book
Beneath The Roses
I saw a couple of pictures in Beneath the Roses and had to own it. I have never spent longer on a picture book, savoring four or five pictures for several days before moving on to the next batch. Readers (readers?) in the northeast will find themselves going "I know that street!". I have no idea why I found the pictures so fascinating but I surely did. I kept staring at them wondering "What is going on here?" and never figuring it out. Find this book. Look at two pictures. If you like them - buy the book! By the way, the production is great. Heavy paper and no centerfold breaks in the pictures.
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3: Some Amazing Exterior Work
In his opening essay of this volume of photographs, Russell Banks describes the cinematic qualities of Crewdson's work; in particular, how "the pictures are assembled and staged." Though not necessarily immediately obvious in all of the individual pictures, after looking for awhile the viewer does begin to recognize the artificiality of the moments. This is not necessarily a bad thing, however. In many cases, particularly when the setting is an exterior, it works very well. The eye searches out the odd detail in the landscape. In the interiors, however, it seems to work less well. In these, the overall effect seems to be oddity and garishness.
More interesting is the theme of isolation that runs through these photos. Even in the shots where more than one person is present, each seems trapped inside their own space. Raised to an even higher degree in some of the wide exteriors, you end up searching out the individual who is nearly swallowed up by the rest of the picture. Perhaps it is that very searching quality required by some of the photographs that makes them the most moving of the group.
When I first received this book, I wasn't sure if I would like it. I was first put off by the unwieldiness of its size--bigger than a normal volume and wider than it is high. As I looked through the photographs and grew to like many of them, I realized the importance of the book's size and shape--to take advantage of the movie aspect ratio Crewdson uses as well as the need for as much space as possible in his wide, detailed exterior shots.
In fact, I went to see a gallery presentation of some of the photographs in this volume. The prints hanging on the wall were large, perhaps six feet or more wide, which I thought did much better justice to Crewdson's work. I found this experience to be of great benefit. When I came home and looked through the book again, I was moved to look even more closely at some of the pictures, seeking out that isolation and detail.
Still, as I said, I think Crewdson's work is uneven. The exteriors, for the most part, greatly outdo the interiors and there is a tendency towards a garishness I don't like in some of his work. However, when he hits the right notes, his landscapes are as beautiful and interesting as anything I've seen.
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4: DO NOT BUY FINE ART BOOKS FROM AMAZON!!
The book is fantastic! However to my horror it was packed very badly and the book arrived scratched and a big chunk taken out of the cover. Amazon expects me to pay for all shipping costs to get a refund. Since I live in Australia the return shipping would surpass the value of the books sent. I emailed Amazon with this issue 2 weeks ago and NO REPLY!
DO NOT BUY FINE ART BOOKS FROM AMAZON!!
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5: Small towns, large fantasies
The first thing Russell Banks mentions in the book's introduction is the comparison between Crewdson's work and Hollywood. Not surprising of course because the photos are produced like the movies only here it's one shot at a time. Looking at the fascinating production photos at the back of the book I'm reminded of Winston Link, another photographer who went to endless trouble for the one shot and mostly in small town America, too.
Crewdson provides you with forty-nine content rich photos, you have to provide everything else and that is not difficult because the people and situations before your eyes pull you into their lives. What is she thinking, is she speaking to him, what is he doing, why are they together? I thought the small town setting ideal for these tableaux, the streets, houses and people seem to fit together and allow the viewer to focus on the characters. Maybe the plates should have been loose in a box making it easier for the viewer to create an ever changing scenario according to their sequence.
I was rather disappointed though with part of the book's production. The photos, thankfully suitable larger than those in Twilight, are only printed in 175dpi. These images are saturated with detail and texture and I would have thought a minimum of 200 or preferably 250dpi would be necessary to bring out their quality. So many of them have a long depth of field but also feature some small detail or frozen action that is important: a person in a car, the items on a bedside table or people seen through the window of a motel room.
Like Twilight the back of this book has chapters on Location and Soundstage, both have production shots (unfortunately not captioned) and drawings to show the amazing amount of work that goes into these photos. A look at the Production Credits also confirms this (and reinforces the movie connection) with Lighting, Best Boys, Gaffers, Key Grip, Special Effects, Prop Masters, Wardrobe, Transportation, Hair and Make-up, Casting, Catering, Legal and more. Oh yes, let's not forget Swamp Design by Buzz Gray, too.
Overall a remarkable book but if you are new to his work have a look at Gregory Crewdson which includes twenty plates from Beneath the Roses.
***FOR AN INSIDE LOOK click 'customer images' under the cover.
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