Jeff Wall is renowned for large-format photographs with subject matter that ranges from mundane corners of the urban environment to elaborate tableaux that take on the scale and complexity of nineteenth-century history paintings. 

 

His work synthesizes the essentials of photography with elements from other art forms—including painting, cinema, and literature—in a complex mode that he calls "cinematography". 

 

A second key direction in Wall’s work is what he calls the "near documentary." These are pictures that resemble documentary photographs in style and manner but are made in collaboration with the people who appear in them.