Sanctuary

While visiting Rome, world-renowned photographer Gregory Crewdson was invited to tour the legendary Italian film studio Cinecitta, where directors such as Federico Fellini and Roberto Rossellini shot their iconic works. He found the elaborate film sets had fallen into ruin and become captivated by their decaying beauty. He knew immediately he had found the subject for his next body of work. Although his earlier series have been characterised by massive production crews, custom built sound stages and hired actors, Crewdson returned to Rome with only a small team and worked mostly with available lighting to create haunting black-and-white portraits of deteriorating buildings and empty streets. Although on the surface these images are a departure from his earlier series, Crewdson's fans will find that the dramatic subtext so often found in his photographs remains, drawing the viewer into moments charged with emotion and the uncanny sense that the past has been brought back to life. New York Times film critic A.O. Scott will contribute an introductory essay to the book.