His photographs consist mostly of unusual, cinematic scenes of small-town American life. He purposely tries to avoid including signifiers of identifiable sites in the photographs.

The scenes are often unsettling/disturbing; they provoke surreal, dream-like moment. He and his large crew achieve this ambiance by using SFX, aka special effects, which are used during production rather than solely after.

SFX: artificial lighting, props, rain, fog, animals, side characters

Beneath the Roses: Untitled (April 5th -May 3rd, 2008)

Crewdson includes anonymous townscapes, forest clearings, and empty, lone streets to produce scenes filled with mystery and wonder. “These haunting images were made over four productions, in a cyclical process - from winter, into summer, back to winter and into summer again. Crewdson’s first ever winter pictures portray barren snow-covered landscapes diffused by a cold gray light. In contrast, the summer images are intensely lush and colorful and depict romantic scenes of youthful adventure, discovery, and sexual exploration. In all of Crewdson’s pictures, the choice of location- desolate passageways, dimly lit houses, hotel rooms, railroad tracks, trailer parks- underscores the inherent theme of rootlessness and loneliness.”- Luhring Augustine

This selection of images contains around 25 photographs, but I chose 6 of my favorite to show. As of right now, Beneath the Roses is my favorite selection out of all the photographs I’ve seen by him. I really enjoy how unusual and unsettling the scenes look; although not all of the photographs have direct causes for this feeling, it’s just a vibe I get from them. These photographs remind me of an alien-like dystopian world that I would see in a TV show or movie- those are my favorite kind. I think it’s cool how in all of them, the lighting is often bright while the surrounding objects, whether that’s the houses, trees in the forest, or mountains, are dark.