dreams and nightmares - no. 83

 kitchen garden

Our homework this week is to produce a picture in homage to one of our favourite photographers.  I chose the fantastic Gregory Crewdson.

Crewdson's images are often surreal in nature, sometimes disturbing and always challenging. Their hallmark is an intricate, beautifully-lit, cinematic setting. Clearly I can come nowhere near his level, but for this series of photos I chose to focus on three elements of Crewsdon's inimitable style, namely surrealism, setting and light.

As regards the first, I decided to create a mini-garden within my kitchen - a play on words. The setting was created using a perspex sheet on the floor which I covered with grass-cuttings and leaves from the garden and compost from the potting-shed. Various pot-plants and flowers from around the house completed the background.

I wanted to use a natural light but had to wait a little while for the sun to move round the house until it provided a shaft of light through the kitchen window. You can see this on the right-hand side of the photos and it's particularly effective in the shots where it lights up the tread on my wellington boots.

I really enjoyed taking these photos and may well return to the theme at a later date. I've already spotted one or two things I would like to improve but for now, what do you think?