A chat with photographer Laura Crosta about crossing into directing.
There’s something to be said for being plunged into the creative deep end and surfacing a director. Photographer and Director Laura Crosta sat down with me for a one on one about how she started directing videos without thinking that that what she was doing.
A graduate a Syracuse, Crosta has been a mainstay in the music and commercial worlds as a photographer for fifteen years. Her commercial work which can be described as high energy contemporary art has won her critical acclaim across the advertising industry. Crosta takes unique personalities and drops them into scenes that have deceivingly simple concepts. It’s not until you take a second glance at her images that your mind starts to perceive the story that led up to the captured image. It is the art of rewarding the viewer who lingers on an image with the depth of the world she has created.
The cross over into directing happened quite by accident. Miss Crosta brought a video camera to one of her still shoots with the intent of playing around. When the client heard this, they made the assumption that Crosta was a director as well as a photographer. Miss Crosta didn’t think it important to correct them and took the booking they offerred to create two electronic press kits for the client. Shortly thereafter she found herself being asked to direct music videos.
When you look at Crosta’s video work you can see the same style of story telling that she has perfected in her photography. Which is a significant reason for her success as a director. Crosta didn’t try to reinvent herself as a director. Rather she took what she knew how to do best and adapted it to motion. Which wasn’t as easy at it seems.
Crosta’s biggest challenge with directing is trusting the action to let the story unfold. Whereas in her still work she can set the stage and let the viewer to see the story their imagination, video is much more revealing. Crosta finds herself constantly resisting the urge to manipulate scene. Ultimately she finds that the scene lends itself to the story, and the story grows from the scene. Which what you’ll find consistent in all of Crosta’s video work. She avoids the vignette trap of shooting beautiful imagery and stitching it together hoping the viewer “gets” it. Crosta always delivers a narrative that captures your attention and then rewards you with a little bit more if you take the time to linger a bit longer.
Crosta splits her time between New York and Los Angeles and is currently working on a feature length documentary entitled “Sing” which features the artists from the famed venue The Hotel Cafe in Los Angeles. You can watch the trailer for Sing below, and view all of her work her on her web site.
“Sing” Movie Trailer from Laura Crosta on Vimeo.
