Technicality

When looking at the final photograph, you usually focus on things like: do I like it or not, is it good or not, is it art or not, etc. With Gregory Crewdson’s photographs you might find yourself wondering how the heck did he put that all together? Well, as his images are often described as cinematic ones, they in fact require a film crew (usually around 20-40 people of different professions) and lots of preparation upfront.  

With the Ophelia photograph, one of the issues was that the model was in a pool of water together with electrical objects. The cooperation with an electrician was necessary. The other thing was the weight of the water itself. Gregory Crewdson wanted to have 90 cm of water on the set, but he was told that the stage could not take that amount and would simply collapse. The production designer suggested designing a room where everything is 54 cm lower than normal and this way creating an illusion of deeper water. Another thing with water was to heat it. They’ve installed water heaters but left them on too long and the fire started just when the model arrived!

Luckily it was extinguished quickly enough so the photo shoot could carry on. There were two versions of this photograph shot. One, when she was “just about to submerge herself into the water -- the moment before the moment. That was very beautiful. Then I said, 'Well, let's try the other one.' But we were running out of time -- we had to be done by 5 o'clock -- and the water was now freezing. So I said, 'Let's just not do it.' But the model was suddenly determined. When she was in the water, looking up at us, I knew that this was the right picture. The fact that there was anxiety on the set that we were running out of time, that there was a fire the night before, that the water was freezing -- all of that, I think, fueled the resulting image. It's beautiful and haunting. It's perfect.” (Interview by Nelson Hancock)