In Eveningside (2021-2022), Crewdson explores moments of contemplation within the confines of quotidien life, in places of employment, and in moments just outside of those work structures. The figures populating the pictures are sparse, and are often seen through storefront windows, in mirror reflections, or positioned underneath the mundane proscenium found in the midst of their everyday routines: railroad bridges, doorways, porches, the overhanging roofline of a bank teller drive-thru, a dairy bar, a corner market, or a hardware store. Bringing his vantage point closer to the figures, using a heightened range of light and darkness, special effects such as fog, rain, smoke, and haze, and for the first time using his now ubiquitous full production and lighting team in a monochromatic palette, the result is a rich gothic atmosphere, evocative of film noir and classic cinema, but with the capabilities and clarity of the most current technology available in digital photography.
Edition: 1 of 1
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THE FAMILY DOCTOR
EXT. EVENINGSIDE - STREET CORNER - TWILIGHT
We are standing on a sidewalk sloping downward toward a T intersection, gazine across at the buildings perpendicular to us. This area of town is unkempt overgrown, becomin shabby. A large abandoned hospital looms in the distance. It's the end of the day, and a rain has just come through. Everything feels still, and quiet.
There are two buildings facing us across the intersection, a doctor's office to the right, and an electronics supply center to the left. The doctor's office is in an unlikely perfunctory edifice, four walls and a roof, a door and two large windows. Lettering on a window reads: FAMILY DOCTOR.
The electronics supply building is made of brick, and looks more like a fortress. There are bars on the windows. It doesn't feel welcoming.
Electrical wires crisscross the sky over the entire scene, almost repeating the pattern of the barred windows, and a chain link fence on one side of the foreground. It feels like a slightly threatening, standoffish part of town.
Through one window of the doctor's office we can see the DOCTOR seeing his last patient of the day, a BOY. The doctor, dressed in a traditional white uniform, is examining him. The boy is in 3/4 view. He's got his shirt off, and is seated on the edge of an exam table. He looks down at the floor in front of him. The other window on the building is closed with curtains. The front door is slightly ajar.
Outside, in the driveway between the two buildings, a NURSE leans against her parked car. She is faced slightly away, looking out toward the neighborhood, gazing off into some other distant dream.