Is it a movie still or a just a photograph? “Untitled (Ophelia)” by Gregory Crewdson is one of the many epic photographs featured in “Gregory Crewdson: Brief Encounters,” being screened Thursday night at MS 51. Photo: Gregory Crewdson
The word photographer doesn’t really convey the full extent of Gregory Crewdson’s work. The effort he pours into his surreal portraits of small town America, which he calls “micro-epics,” are akin to movie sets in their staging, lighting and costs. Ben Shapiro’s critically acclaimed documentary, Brief Encounters, follows the photographer’s 10-year quest to create elaborate pictures that, says Crewdson, “probe the dark corners of the psyche.” The documentary is being screened at MS 51 in Park Slope, followed by a Q&A with Crewdson, to help raise money for the school’s photography program. While it helps that Crewdson is a native Park Sloper, only in New York can public school parents pull off such excellent fundraisers. Tickets are $15 in advance, $20 at the door.
