Crying Men by Sam Taylor-Wood
Posted by Photo Slaves in PhotographersNov 16th, 2009 | 10 responses
Crying Men is a series of photographic portraits of famous film actors. Sam Taylor-Wood makes portraits of her subjects as actors; she shoots them in role, asking each to perform and cry for the camera and demands the actor’s investment in the process. These are no passive sitters. Each of the resulting images is distinct; one actor recalls the hieratic clarity of a Byzantine saint whose tears appear decorative. Other images are of heroic crying where stoic restraint has broken down, there are some that display the voluptuous crying of medieval saints, there are images of cathartic crying, quiet tears of regret and grief, and yet whilst being moved by these intimate revelatory images we simultaneously know that the emotional display is being play-acted. Sam Taylor-Wood’s film and photographic works are distinguished by their subversive creation of enigmatic situations full of latent but explosive energy.
The portraits include Tim Roth, Gabriel Byrne, Laurence Fishburne, Woody Harrelson, Michael Gambon, Jude Law, Hayden Christiansen, Ryan Gosling, Robert Downey Jr., Paul Newman, Ed Harris, Benicio Del Toro, Willem Dafoe, and Kris Kristofferson.
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10 Responses to “Crying Men by Sam Taylor-Wood”
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Amazing work; particularly Daniel Craig and Tim Roth.
time has passed (6 months) since this was published, and in light of Sean Penn’s recent bad press, I can’t help but think he’s out of place in this primarily honest capture.
Interesting choice of a theme. Nice job, indeed. I like Paul Newman and Benicio del Toro in particular.
This lady creates a lot of the art that I imagine myself making – I’ve never known an artist I can relate to so much.
Does anyone know if these are all the photos in the book, or if there are more that aren’t online? If all the photos that are in the book are here then I won’t fork out the expensive, but well deserved price for the book. Thanks.
great work!! i enjoy these pictures tremendously…
big girls don’t cry and men do?
I think a man should know how to keep his tears down
Oh man! I loved this. I’m happy I found this. Really great shit.
“It takes a big man to cry but it takes a bigger man to laugh at that man.” ~ Jack Handey
Loved it! Daniel Craig, the only one who looks up. Says a lot about how much as ‘Men’ we don’t want to be seen being emotional!Kris Kristofferson & Robin Williams also very powerfull. Great images. Thank you.