Woody Allen has described Ingmar Bergman as "probably the greatest film artist, all things considered, since the invention of the motion picture camera". Bergman directed over sixty films and documentaries, most of which he also wrote, and directed over one hundred and seventy plays.
Concerning his films, Bergman held Winter Light, Persona and Cries and Whispers in the highest regard, since these pushed the medium to its limit. In exploring death, faith, betrayal and insanity etc., his long time cinematographer Sven Nykvist was essential, capturing the light and the atmosphere on the screen. Our photograph is inspired by Winter Light, where the priest, (doubting) Tomas.., struggles with God. Bergman himself struggled with his faith – and had a complicated relationship to his father, who was a priest...
This photograph, many detective stories and Bergman's famous portrait of Death in The Seventh Seal – under a cloudy sky – may all be examples of postmodern hyperrealism. Fiction inspires the interpretation of reality; "gloomy" weather has obviously no natural connotations of anxiety/death...