Previously - Bill Finger

Bill Finger's imagined crime scenes

Inspired by Gregory Crewdson, former cameraman photographs miniature film sets - then destroys 'the evidence'

No, we haven’t just unearthed some police files and thought they would make a good story; these photographs are by Seattle-based photographer Bill Finger who works somewhere between photography and cinematography and takes inspiration from master photographers Gregory Crewdson and Guy Bourdin.

Much like many of Bourdin and film still creator Crewdson’s works, each of Finger’s images in his Previously series is constructed from top to bottom, specifically to be photographed as a whole.

 

Previously - Bill Finger
Previously - Bill Finger

The twist? Well, one of many twists is that they're not even full size. Each set is created in miniature and all staging and lighting is done through the lens.

“Once photographed, the diorama is then destroyed,” Finger says. “Through this process I create a temporary space which, like a film set, only lives on within the image.”

 

Previously - Bill Finger
Previously - Bill Finger

Although similar in look and feel to Crewdson’s film stills, the images in Finger’s Previously series give a hint at what may have happened through a series of clues. So you know someone has been killed and with what. But that's it. Finger’s images seem to have been taken after the event - in contrast to Crewdson’s where there is normally an element of suspense regarding what is about to happen.

 

Previously - Bill Finger
Previously - Bill Finger

During his career as an assistant cameraman, Finger had time to observe how scenes move into one another and how real life can be moulded into a storyline. He also came to realise the differences and similarities between photography and cinematography.

 

Previously - Bill Finger
Previously - Bill Finger

“My photographs explore the hazy boundaries that exist between the two,” Finger says. “By borrowing methodology from filmmaking my images become an amalgamation of both truth and fiction. They are an entwining of places that I have been, with movie sets I’ve worked on.

 

Previously - Bill Finger
Previously - Bill Finger

Take a look at Bill's site then check out more of our online photographic content along with our amazing array of photographic books