‘Untitled ‘Beneath the Roses’’ by Gregory Crewdson depicts the narrative of an instant between the past and the future - an uncertain yet familiar moment . The everyday narrative tells a partial story through surreal atmosphere of large-scale scenes and statue-like people, vivid colours, and the intricate details within the image surroundings. The mnemic traces within this image are hidden in plane sight, giving emphasis to a moment that has already passed or may be yet to come. This ambiguity of nature and tone of the image allows the viewer to explore the image that is presented to the viewer through their own perceptions. In order to further the understanding of Gregory Crewdson and his relation to the real, it is necessary to discuss the …show more content…
Rooms within rooms create the feeling of multiple layers or multiple worlds within the image itself. The kitchen, significantly lit and obviously well used, throws light into the middle room. A flower-covered candle chandelier illuminates the scene at the table and small pieces of detail on the walls. Two statue-like people sit at this dining table set for four, forever still and silent in a moment that presents a bewildering mystery inquisitively explored by the viewer. There is a moment of connectedness between the viewer and the photograph. At first glance, the photograph is an experience, a signifier of what the camera has seen and what the artist intended the viewer to see. The viewer establishes a correspondence with the work - a moment of recognition of something both outside themselves (the photograph) and something within themselves (the repressed). These repressed memories surface as a mnemic trace that is both projected onto the work, and perceived by the audience. The correspondence between the viewer and the artwork allows the memory created by the work to be retained even after the artwork is no longer within visual perspective. This correspondence allows the viewer to remember what they want to see, and not the memory of the work as a whole. This is what Minor White postulates as Equivalence. It is the theory of equivalence that explores …show more content…
Giralt explores Oretga Y. Gassets’ theory of the scale of realism in his article ‘Realism and Realistic Representation in the Digital Age’ that explores the relevance of Gasset to realism and representation within photography and contemporary art. This section of the essay will focus on Oretga Y. Gasset through an interpreted reading of Gabriel F. Giralt as no full English translation of Gasset exists as an obtainable text as this stage. Gasset analyses the representation of reality by asking “which of all these multiple realities is the real and authentic one?” He posits this question through his concept of a scale of realism - the degree of closeness or sentimental participation at one end, and a degree of distanciation on the other. He describes the degree of closeness or sentimental participation as the ‘lived’ reality and the degree of distanciation as the ‘observed’ reality. The degree of ‘lived’ experience is based on a sentimental connection such as a relationship between a husband and wife. The degree of ‘observed’ experience is based on an awareness of an experience or connection and not a personal relationship such as the friends or family of a married couple. Gasset uses the ‘suffering wife’, the ‘painter’, and the ‘physician’ to explain a viewer can experience a represented reality. The suffering wife experiences reality as a degree of ‘lived’ experience because of the level of intimacy based on an emotional connection with her partner. The painter