Photographer Gregory Crewdson:
Photographer Gregory Crewdson:
Norman Rockwell is one of the great chroniclers of American life. For me, part of what I find compelling in his work comes from a tension between what we ' re seeing— an idealized world— and what we ' re not seeing— something darker going on underneath. Rockwell has an obsessive need to create order, symmetry, safety, and something aspirational in his version of the American story. There ' s an optimism and a sense of hope. Closing Up a Summer Cottage, a commission from 1957, is a bit of an anomaly in his body of work. It ' s fascinating to think of this being installed in Grand Central Terminal, an illuminated light-box presenting a panoramic view packed with all the classic motifs characteristic of Rockwell ' s oeuvre. It presents a certain vision, however out of reach, of American life, of family, travel, leisure, and of pastoral destinations beyond the city. It ' s amazing to think of commuters at that time passing by and gazing at it, and comparing their real lives to that view of the world. His visual narrative here strains slightly against the medium of photography in a way that his paintings don ' t. The relationship to the real world and the suspension of disbelief is not as seamless. It is this gap between fiction and the real world that makes the image so compelling, however. It is also a reminder of just how great his paintings are.
— Gregory Crewdson is an American photographer who is a Professor and Director of Graduate Studies in Photography at the Yale School of Art. He lives and works in the Berkshires. His works are known for their large scale and detailed sets. Crewdson’ s methodology of making still images with a cinematic lighting and production team is referenced widely in film, television, and other visual forms. n
Ralph Amdursky( 1913-2013) & Charlie O. Baker, photographers Norman Rockwell( 1894-1978), art director Closing Up a Summer Cottage, 1957 Display advertisement for Eastman Kodak Company Kodak Colorama( color transparency) Courtesy of Eastman Kodak Company
Fall 2025 BERKSHIRE MAGAZINE // 45