My first reaction to Gregory Crewdson was confusion. I think I focused more on trying to make sense of the picture than the actual composition. As I read further, I discovered that inner questions are his intent. The only sense I could make of it was that all the pieces had something to do with small-town domestic life. His art reveals something about the true mindset of people we pass by every day.
Teun Hocks work is my personal favorite due to his simplicity and quirky humor. Unlike Crewdson, Hocks work is a quick laugh and the message is extremely accessible while also being beautiful. Hocks main series uses the same model so that the focus is on the action, not the person. He has an isolated and obvious focal point and does not use excessive wide shots like Crewdson. Instead of having to decipher his work, Hocks treats the viewer to his off-beat imagination.
Jeff wall is in great contrast with the first two artists wherein he uses more muted colors and has more serious subject matter. Though Crewdson did suggest a deeper meaning to the awkwardness of his work, Crewdson makes his somber tone apparent from the start. I viewed his main focuses as urban social interaction and the relationship of humanity to death. I wasn’t all together impressed with his composition but he is very raw as an artist and that is something to be admired.
Cindy Sherman’s style is extremely glamorous and is completely devoid of color, whereas the other artists relied on it. Sherman focuses more on value and its interactions with light in creating a “feel” for the subject. What struck me first was the eerie type of glamour in which she photographs and what it may suggest about her subjects. Of course, the period clothing suggests that the classic woman is timeless, but perhaps it goes deeper. I though she may be making a statement about how the media makes us forget the woman as perpetually human and seeks to make her an icon. Either way, she takes a route that is a step above mimicry and in doing so, she highlights the difference between what we are used to seeing and what she has laid before us.
