dear reader supremacy

“We twist in our self-made cages and pray that we aren’t—right this minute—about to make some fateful life-altering mistake… For all of us who have tossed and turned and decided to keep the lanterns lit and go searching—hoping that just maybe, when the clock strikes twelve… we’ll meet ourselves.”

Disclaimer: I’ll only be providing some very brief possible lines of interpretation & let the imagery speak for itself, because it feels invasive to assume certain things bt her state of mind & how it might or might not be reflected in the art, given how gloom-ridden both music videos are.

Gregory Crewdson is an American photographer who creates Surreal and darkly mysterious aesthetics exploring American suburban loneliness. his style is indebted to Edward Hopper’s art (e.g. ‘Nighthawks’), but with Crewdson we are talking about large-scale depictions of alienation.

Bedroom similarities: Crewdson depicts vulnerable women (naked or in sheer clothing), arguably a sign of the male gaze, and Taylor reinterprets this as a female gaze that signals her sexualisation & objectification by the media, the incongruity between her private & public personas

Crewdson plays with female figures sitting on the side of the bed, while a lover/husband can be seen asleep nearby. The woman looks visibly desolate and depressed, up at night deep in thought.

Side-by-side comparison:

Flowers & floors in bloom: there is a sense of utter hopelessness, a search for something within the four walls of the house. Taylor’s lavender may symbolise silence, entrapment, or alternately, queer empowerment. either way, the imagery is bleak.

The woman sprawled on the living-room couch: mind-numbing atmosphere, physical and mental exhaustion, again a feeling of entrapment and whiling the days away.

The bathroom: Taylor’s take is much more visibly Wes-Anderson-esque & light, yet it still triggers some shiny claustrophobia, the bathroom is a place of anxiety (her weighing herself reminded me of the last photo, and the girl’s shameful exposure in the mirror)

Women submerged in water: Crewdson depicts a woman floating on her back in the living room, an idea of domestic bliss gone awry, it’s an Ophelian perspective. clearly, Taylor’s take on it is much sexier and empowered, but Crewdson may have inspired her.

The Anti-Hero ending: Crewdson’s photos take place at twilight, the magic hour when people & objects undergo transformation ('when the clock strikes twelve, we’ll meet ourselves’).

The Anti-Hero living room: I’m going insane with how similar these two shots look and feel like, there is a sense of intimacy interwoven with a silent despair, a deep loneliness.

“What I am interested in is that moment of transcendence, where one is transported into another place, into a perfect, still world.” (Crewdson, The Guardian)

One last stop: flowers (whether this is a sapphic inspiration, or a nod to withering and passing away, or stillness, it’s a beautiful touch)

The general design of the Lavender Haze room is very similar to Crewdson’s photography of suburban houses (it’s interesting that Taylor chose this setting and design style).

every time you're, every time you're lovin' me

TAYLOR SWIFT — DON'T BLAME ME

taylor being the cutest on tour ♡

the cutest smollest bean