# Gregory Crewdson

Gregory Crewdson (born September 26, 1962) is an American photographer who makes large-scale, cinematic, psychologically charged prints of staged scenes set in suburban landscapes and interiors. He directs a large production and lighting crew to construct his images.

## Early life and education

Crewdson was born in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. As a child, he attended Brooklyn Friends School, and then John Dewey High School.
As a teenager, he was part of a power pop group called the Speedies. Their song "Let Me Take Your Photo" was used in 2005 by Hewlett-Packard in advertisements to promote its digital cameras.
Crewdson attended Purchase College, State University of New York, where he initially planned to study psychology. At Purchase, he enrolled in a photography course taught by Laurie Simmons and also studied with Jan Groover. He received an MFA in photography from the Yale School of Art.

## Life and work

Crewdson is a professor and the director of graduate studies in photography at Yale School of Art.
Crewdson's photographs are elaborately planned, produced, and lit using crews familiar with motion picture production who light large scenes using cinema production equipment and techniques. He works with a lighting team, art director, make-up and wardrobe department, props and effects to create mood, atmosphere, and open-ended narrative images. He has worked with the same director of photography, Richard Sands, along with other core team members, for some 25 years. He works much like a director with a budget similar to that of a movie production, each image involves dozens of people and weeks to months of planning.
Using shots that resemble film productions, Crewdson deconstructs American suburban life in his work. He has cited the films Vertigo, The Night of the Hunter, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Blue Velvet, and Safe as having influenced his style, as well as the painter Edward Hopper and photographer Diane Arbus.
Crewdson's most widely-known bodies of work include Twilight (1998–2002), Beneath the Roses (2003–2008), Cathedral of the Pines (2013–2014), An Eclipse of Moths (2018–2019), and Eveningside (2021–2022). Crewdson's only body of work made outside of the U.S. was Sanctuary (2009), set at the abandoned Cinecittá studios outside of Rome. Nearly all of his other work before and since was made in the small towns and cities in Western Massachusetts.
In 2012, he was the subject of the feature documentary film Gregory Crewdson: Brief Encounters. The film series followed the construction of and an explanation by Crewdson of his thought process and vision for pieces of Beneath the Roses.

## Personal life

As of 2020, Crewdson lives primarily in western Massachusetts in a former Methodist church. His long time partner, Juliane Hiam, is a writer and producer and the two work closely together. Hiam has also appeared as a subject in numerous of Crewdson's pictures. Crewdson has two children from a previous marriage. Crewdson is an open-water swimmer and has said that the meditative state he achieves with his daily swimming practice is fundamental to his creative process as an artist.

## Publications

* Hover. Artspace Books, 1995. ISBN 1891273000.
* Twilight: Photographs by Gregory Crewdson. Harry N. Abrams, 2002. ISBN 0810910039. With an essay by Rick Moody.
* Gregory Crewdson: 1985–2005. Hatje Cantz, 2005. ISBN 377571622X.
* Fireflies. Skarstedt Fine Art, 2007. ISBN 0970909055.
* Beneath the Roses. With Russell Banks. Harry N. Abrams, 2008. ISBN 978-0810993808.
* Dream House. With text by Tilda Swinton. John Rule, 2009. ISBN 978-8888359410.
* Sanctuary. With Anthony O. Scott. Hatje Cantz, 2010. ISBN 978-3775727341.
* In a Lonely Place. Hatje Cantz, 2011. ISBN 978-3775731362.
* Gregory Crewdson. New York: Rizzoli, 2013. ISBN 978-0847840915.
* Cathedral of the Pines. New York: Aperture, 2016. ISBN 978-1-597113-50-2. With a text by Alexander Nemerov.
* An Eclipse of Moths. New York: Aperture, 2020. ISBN 978-1683952213. With an introduction by Jeff Tweedy.
* Alone Street. New York: Aperture, 2021. ISBN 978-1597115131. With an essay by Joyce Carol Oates and an interview with the artist by Cate Blanchett.
* Gregory Crewdson: Eveningside, 2012–2022. Milan: Skira Editore, 2022. ISBN 8857248429. Text by Jean-Charles Vergne.
* Gregory Crewdson. Munich, London, New York: Prestel, 2024. ISBN 9783791391243. Edited by Walter Moser, with texts by David Fincher, Daniela Hammer-Tugendhat, Beate Hofstadler, Astrid Mahler, Watler, Moser, Matthieu Orléan, and Emily St. John Mandel.

## Exhibitions
### Solo exhibitions

* Gregory Crewdson. House Taken Over, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid, Spain, 1998; and traveled to Salamanca, 1999
* Gregory Crewdson: 1985–2005, Kunstverein Hannover, Hanover, Germany; and traveled to Kunstmuseen Krefeld, Germany, 2006; Fotomuseum Winterthur, Switzerland; and Landsgalerie Linz, Austria, 2006
* Gregory Crewdson: Fireflies, Skarstedt Fine Art, New York, NY, 2006
* Gregory Crewdson: In a Lonely Place, traveling show, C/O Berlin, Berlin, 2011; Det Kongelige Bibliotek, Kulturhuset, Stockholm, Sweden, 2011; Copenhagen, Denmark, 2011/2012; Centre for Contemporary Photography, Melbourne, Australia, 2012; Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane, Australia, 2013; City Gallery Wellington; and Dunedin Art Gallery, Dunedin, New Zealand, 2013
* Gregory Crewdson: Fireflies, Wave Hill, Bronx, NY, 2014; SITE Santa Fe, Santa Fe, NM, 2015; Berkshire Botanical Garden, Leonhardt Galleries, Stockbridge, MA, 2021
* Gregory Crewdson: Sanctuary, TIFF '11 Festival, Toronto, Canada, 2011 La Fábrica Gallery, Madrid, Spain
* Gregory Crewdson: Dream House, The San Diego Museum of Art, San Diego, CA, 2015
* Cathedral of the Pines, Galerie Templon, Brussels and Paris concurrently, September–October 2016; The Photographers' Gallery, London, 2017; Centre of Contemporary Art, Toruń, Poland, November 2017 – January 2018
* Gregory Crewdson: Sanctuary, Galerie Wilma Tolksdorf, Frankfurt, Germany, April–July 2017
* The Becket Pictures, FRAC Auvergne, Clermont-Ferrand, France, 2017
* Gregory Crewdson: Eveningside (a survey of work from 2012 to 2022), Gallerie d'Italia, Turin, Italy, October 2022 – January 2023, exhibition traveled to the LUMA Foundation at Rencontres d'Arles, Arles, France, July–September 2023, and VB Photography Center, Kuopio, Finland, June 12-Sept. 15 2024
* Gregory Crewdson: Forest Fables, University of San Diego, San Diego, CA, September–October 2023
* Gregory Crewdson: Eveningside, Reflex Gallery, Amsterdam, Netherlands, Mar 11-May 6, 2023, Alan Koppel Gallery, Chicago, April–August 2023, Templon, Paris, France, Nov. 8-Dec. 23 2023
* Gregory Crewdson: Retrospektive, The Albertina Museum, Vienna, Austria, May–September 2024

### Group exhibitions

* Pleasures and Terrors in Domestic Comfort. Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, 1991
* Picturing Ritual. The Center for Photography, Woodstock; Neuberger Museum, SUNY Purchase, NY, 1993
* Daydream Nation. Luhring Augustine, New York, NY, 1993
* Close Encounters. Ikon Gallery, Birmingham, AL. Visual Arts Gallery, SUNY Purchase, Purchase, NY. Feigen Gallery, Chicago, IL. Elizabeth Koury, New York, NY, 1993
* Home Sweet Home and Other Fables. St. Louis Art Museum, St. Louis, MO, 1993
* Recent Photography Acquisitions: Selections from the Permanent Collection. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY, 1993
* A Garden. Barbara Krakow Gallery, Boston, MA, 1994
* Animal Farm. Corcoran Gallery, Santa Monica, CA, 1994
* Photography at Berkeley Square. The City Bank Private Bank Collection, London, England, 1995
* Faculty Work on Paper. Yale School of Art, New Haven, CT, 1995
* Duchamp's Leg. Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN, 1995
* Nature Studies. University of Massachusetts at Amherst Fine Arts Center, Amherst, MA, 1995
* On the Face of it. Fotofinis exhibition, City Art Centre, Edinburgh, Scotland, 1995
* Confronting Nature, Silenced Voices. California State University, Fullerton, CA, 1995
* La Belle et La Bête. Musee d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris, France, 1995
* Nature Studies: Gregory Crewdson, Adam Fuss, Hiroshi Sugimoto. Johnson County Community College, Overland Park, KS, 1995
* Brave New World. Christopher Grimes Gallery, Santa Monica, CA, 1995
* Yamantaka Donation: An Exhibition of Photographs to Benefit Tibet House (curated by Diego Cortez). Robert Miller Gallery, New York, NY, 1995
* Blind Spot. The MAC, Dallas Artists Research and Exhibition, Dallas, TX, 1995
* The Set-Up. Baumgartner Galleries, Washington D.C, 1995
* Digital Gardens. The Power Plant, Toronto, Canada, 1996
* Perfect World. University at Buffalo Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY. Exposure. Luhring Augustine, New York, NY, 1996
* Nature/Culture and the Postmodern Sublime, Bard Center for Curatorial Studies, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY, 1996
* Prospect 96, Frankfurter Kunstverein, Frankfurt, Germany, 1996
* What I Did on My Summer Vacation. White Columns, New York, NY, 1996
* Shot: Una Visione Americana (curated by Christiana Perrella, Valentina Moncada) Valentina Moncada Gallery, Rome, Italy, 1996
* Show and Tell. Lauren Wittels Gallery, New York, NY, 1996
* Everything that's Interesting is New (organized by the DESTE Foundation). The Dakis Joannou Collection, Athens School of Fine Arts “the factory,” Athens, Greece, 1996
* A Thin Line. Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY, 1997
* To Be Real. Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA, 1997
* De fleurs en mai. Oeuvres de la collection du Frac des Pays de la Loire. Maison Billaud, Fontenay-le-Comte, Pays de la Loire, France, 1997
* Pictures This: Photographs from Former and Current Faculty and Staff of the Cooper Union School of Art. Cooper Union Foundation Building, New York, NY, 1997
* Surrealism. Wexner Center for the Visual Arts, Columbus, OH, 1997
* The Set Up. Barbara Farber Galerie, Amsterdam. ‘97 Gwangju Biennale, Gwangju, South Korea, 1997
* American Art Today: The Garden. The Art Museum at Florida International University, Miami, FL, 1997
* Gothic, ICA, Boston, MA, 1997
* Veronica's Revenge. Stedelijk Museum, Sittard, The Netherlands, 1997
* Making It Real (organized and circulated by Independent Curators International, New York, and curated by Vik Muniz). Traveled to The Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Ridgefield, CT; Reykjavik Municipal Art Museum, Reykjavik, Iceland; Portland Museum of Art, ME; Bayly Art Museum, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA; Bakalar Gallery, Massachusetts College of Art, Boston, MA; Emerson Gallery, Hamilton College, Clinton, NY, 1997– 99
* The New Surrealism. Pamela Auchincloss Project Space, New York, NY, 1998
* Spectacular Optical. Thread Waxing Space, New York, NY, 1998
* Pop Surrealism (organized by Harry Philbrick). Aldrich Museum, Ridgefield, CT. Allegories of Site in Contemporary Art. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY, 1998
* Exterminating Angel (curated by Joshua Decter). Galerie Ghislaine Hussenot, Paris, France, 1998
* Pollution. Claudia Gian Ferrari Arte Contemporanea, Milan, Italy, 1998
* The Sound of One Hand: The Collection of Collier Schorr. Apexart, New York, NY, 1998
* Mysterious Voyages. Contemporary Museum, Baltimore, MD, 1998
* Animal Artifice. The Hudson River Museum, Yonkers, NY, 1999
* WILDflowers. Katonah Museum of Art, Katonah, NY, 1999
* Botanica: Contemporary Art and the World of Plants. Tweed Museum of Art, University of Minnesota, Duluth, MN. Traveled to: Plains Art Museum, Fargo, ND; University Galleries, Illinois State University, Normal, IL; Carleton College ArtGallery, Northfield, MN; Alexandria Museum of Art, Alexandria, LA; Tarble Arts Center, Eastern Illinois University, Charleston, IL; Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago; University Gallery, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, 1999
* Summer SurReality. Judy Ann Goldman Fine Art, Boston, MA, 1999
* Threshold: Invoking the Domestic in Contemporary Art. John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, WI, 1999
* Full Exposure: Contemporary Photography. New Jersey Center for Visual Arts, Summit, NJ, 1999
* As Far as the Eye Can See. Atlanta College of Art Gallery/City Gallery at Chastain, Atlanta, GA, 1999
* Nature is Not Romantic. The Bertha and Karl Leubsdorf Art Gallery at Hunter College, New York, NY, 1999
* Under/Exposed. Varldens Storsta Fotoutstallning, Stockholms Tunnelbana, Stockholm, 1999
* Affinities with Architecture. Belk Gallery, Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, NC. Traveled to: Carroll Reece Museum, East Tennessee State University, Johnson,City, TN; Anderson Gallery School of the Arts, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, 1999
* Before They Became Who They Are. Kravets/ Wehby Gallery, New York, NY, 2000
* Beastie Boys Exhibition. Gavin Brown's Enterprise, New York, NY, 2000
* Open Ends: Sets and Situations. Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, 2000
* Art at MoMA Since 1980. Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, 2000
* Post-Historical Narrative in Contemporary Photography. Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA, 2000
* Collector's Choice (curated by Ann Tenenbaum). Exit Art, New York, NY, 2000
* Threshold: Invoking the Domestic in Contemporary Art. Contemporary Art Center of Virginia, Virginia Beach, VA, 2000
* Photography Now (curated by S. Rubin). Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans, LA, 2000
* Chorus of Light: Photographs from the Sir Elton John Collection. High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA, 2000
* Alfred Hitchcock. Musee des beaux-arts de Montreal, Montreal, Canada, 2000
* The Swamp: On the Edge of Eden. Samuel P. Harn Museum, Gainsville, FL, 2000
* Larry Clark/Gregory Crewdson. Eleni Koroneou Gallery, Athens, Greece. Contemporary Group Show. Fifty One Fine Art Photography, Antwerp, Belgium. Gregory Crewdson, Vik Muniz, Hiroshi Sugimoto. Spark Inc., Tokyo, Japan, 2000
* Settings and Players: Theatrical Ambiguity in American Photography (curated by Louise Neri and Vince Aletti). White Cube, London. Traveled to: The City Gallery of Prague, Prague, Czech Republic, 2001
* Bright Paradise. The First Auckland Triennial, University of Auckland Art Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand, 2001
* Photochrome. Current Contemporary Photography from New York Galleries. Silvermine Guild Galleries, New Canaan, CT, 2001
* The Reality Effect: Contemporary American Photography. Guild Hall of East Hampton, East Hampton, NY, 2001
* Fantastic. Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, North Adams, MA, 2003– 04
* Picasso to Pop: A Growing Contemporary Collection. Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix, AZ, 2004
* Nunca supe si lo que me contabas era cierto o producto de tu fantasia. Galería Estrany–De La Mota, Barcelona, Spain, 2004– 05
* Fotografía de los años 80 y 90 en la colección del MNCARS. Museo de Arte Abstracto Español, Cuenca, Spain, 2005
* Acting Out: Invented Melodrama in Contemporary Photography (organized by Kathleen A. Edwards). University of Iowa Museum of Art, Iowa City, IA. Traveled to: The Neuberger Museum of Art, State University of New York, Purchase, NY, 2005
* The New City: Sub/Urbia in Recent Photography. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY, 2005– 06
* Twilight: Photography in The Magic Hour. Victoria and Albert Museum, London, England, 2006
* Into Me/Out of Me. P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, Long Island City, NY. Traveled to: Kunst-Werke Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin, Germany, 2006– 07
* Untitled(Vicarious): Photographing the Constructed Object, Gagosian Gallery, New York, NY, 2008
* Reality Check: Truth and Illusion in Contemporary Photography. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY, 2008
* Bad Habits. Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY, 2009
* Meet Me Inside. Gagosian Gallery, Beverly Hills, CA, 2010
* Duane Hanson/Gregory Crewdson: Uncanny Realities. Museum Frieder Burda, Baden-Baden, Germany, 2011
* Atget and Contemporary Photography. Leslie Feely Fine Art, New York, NY, 2011
* Room in My Head: Staging Psychological Spaces. Gutstein Gallery, The Savannah College of Art and Design, Savannah, GA, 2012
* Power Flower. Galerie ABTArt, Stuttgart, Germany, 2012
* America in View: Landscape Photography 1865 to Now. Rhode Island School of Design, Museum of Art, Providence, RI, 2012– 13
* CONCRETE-Photography and Architecture. Fotomuseum Winterthur, Antwerp. Belgium, 2013
* Mise-en-Scene. Samsung Museum of Art, Leeum, Seoul, South Korea, 2013
* HEIMsuchung. Kunstmuseum Bonn, Bonn, Germany, 2013
* COLOR! American Photography Transformed. Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, TX, 2013
* Dark Blue: The Water as Protagonist. Haggerty Museum of Art, Marquette University, Milwuakee, WI, 2013
* At the Window: The Photographer’s View. The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA, 2013
* American Darkness: Gregory Crewdson and O. Winston Link. Danziger Gallery, New York, NY, 2013
* Who Shall Deliver Us From the Greeks and Romans? Galeri Mana, Istanbul, Turkey, 2014
* BAD THOUGHTS. Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands, 2014
* Carte Blanche a Christian Lacroix. Musee Cognacq-Jay, Paris, France, 2014
* The New York Times Magazine Photographs. Aperture, New York, NY, 2014
* Spaced Out: Migration to the Interior. Red Bull Studios, New York, NY, 2014
* FIERCE CREATIVITY. Pace Gallery, New York, NY, 2014
* Disturbing Innocence. The FLAG Art Foundation, New York, NY, 2014– 15
* Open/Rhapsody: A Journey into Photography and Video Collections. Beirut Exhibition Center, Beirut, Lebanon, 2015
* River Crossings: Contemporary Art Comes Home. Thomas Cole National Historic Site, Catskill, NY,2015
* Pair(s). Maison Particuliere, Brussels, Belgium, 2015Arts & Foods Pavilion, La Triennale di Milano, Milan, Italy, 2015
* The Mannequin of History: Art After Fabrications of Critique and Culture. Expo 2015 Modena, Modena, Italy, 2015
* Italia Inside Out. Palazzo della Ragione. Milan, Italy, 2015
* Into the Night: Modern and Contemporary Art and the Nocturne Tradition. Tucson Museum of Art, Tucson, AZ, 2016
* Photography & Film Constructs. Willis Smith Gallery, Ringling College of Art and Design, Sarasota, FL, 2016
* American Photographs, 1845 to Now. Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, TX, 2016
* Watershed: Contemporary Landscape Photography. Jepson Center, Telfair Museums, Savannah, GA, 2016
* Modes of Behavior Towards People When Affection Plays a Part. Klein Collection. Kunstmuseum, Stuttgart, Germany, 2017
* Directions in Photography. Orlando Museum of Art, Orland, FL, 2018
* Making Home: Contemporary Art from the DIA. Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI, 2018
* Reste l’air et le monde... Fonds régional d'art contemporain Auvergne, Clermont Ferrand, France, 2018
* Inside Out - Photography and Psychology. DZ Bank Kunstsammlung, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, 2018
* Photography from the Permanent Collection. Tucson Museum of Art, Tucson, AZ, 2018
* Praying for Time. Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA, 2018
* About Photography. Gagosian, San Francisco, CA, 2018
* Making Home. Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI, 2018
* New Territory: Landscape Photography Today. Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO, 2018
* House: Selections from the Collection of John and Sue Wieland. Mead Art Museum at Amherst College, Amherst, MA, 2018
* A Journey That Wasn’t. The Broad, Los Angeles, CA, 2018
* Fiction and Fabrication, MAAT Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology, Lisbon, Portugal, 2019
* THE VOID. Salon Berlin, Museum Frieder Burda, Berlin, Germany, 2019
* Le mauvais œil, FRAC Auvergne, Clermont-Ferrand, France, 2020
* Contours du Réel, Topographie de l’art, Paris, France, 2023
* Suburbia: Building the American Dream. Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain, 2024

## Awards

* Aaron Siskind Foundation Individual Photographer's Fellowship
* Skowhegan Medal for Photography, Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Skowhegan, ME.
* Skowhegan Medal for Photography
* National Endowment for the Arts fellowship
* Honorary Doctorate, Montserrat College of Art, Beverly, MA.
* Honorary Doctorate, SUNY Purchase, NY.
* Distinguished Artist Award, St. Botolph Club Foundation, Boston, MA.

## Collections

Crewdson's work is held in the permanent collections of major institutions worldwide, including:
* Albertina Museum, Vienna
* The Broad, Los Angeles
* The Getty Museum, Los Angeles
* Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles
* Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
* Museum of Modern Art, New York
* San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco
* Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
* Victoria and Albert Museum, London
* Whitney Museum, New York
* Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven

## Films about Crewdson

* Gregory Crewdson: Brief Encounters (2012) – feature documentary directed, produced, and shot by Ben Shapiro
* There But Not There (2017) – short documentary about Crewdson's casting process, directed by Juliane Hiam
* Making Eveningside (2022) – short interpretive documentary directed by Harper Glantz, set to original music by Stuart Bogie and James Murphy (electronic musician) about the making of Eveningside