The work of Cindy
Sherman revolves around the concept of intermingling Film and Photography into
one art form. Though she technically shoots still photographic images, Sherman
manages to imbue a feeling of immanent action into her images. Always looking off
camera, her self-portrait film stills have a sense of anticipation and power to
them. While she does have color images, I chose 3 black and white ones in order
to showcase her filmic attributes, and the characters she manages to portray,
such as the femme fatale or the 50’s wife.
While self-portraits
have often been utilized by artists of all backgrounds, Sherman manages to give
her works a unique spin by both using images that are full of mystery and by
using her imagery to create a dialogue on feminism. By using different
characters in different settings, Sherman asks questions of the viewer that are
impossible to answer simply by looking at her images. In order to understand
some of the dialogue she’s placed within her work the viewer must use a
combination of imagination and historical references to build their own
conversation.
Cindy Sherman caught
my attention in my moving pixels class because of her combination of Film and
photography, as someone who studies cinema actively and philosophically, I
gathered facets of her work that might have been missed by others, especially references
to old films that she sneaks into her work. I chose her because not only does
she take photos of stunning quality, but she captures a moment in time that can
only be understood through a sort of conversation with the photograph itself “What
is she doing, what is she looking it, what time period is she, where is she
located?” By making an active viewing series of pieces, Cindy has managed to
capture the attention of both viewers and critics for many years, for good
reason too.
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