PechaKucha- Cindy Sherman

I learned about Cindy Sherman in AP Art History in high school, and haven’t been able to forget her since. As a genderqueer person who likes makeup, I related to her exploration of identity and cosmetics to take on different personas. I can confidently say she’s a huge inspiration to me as a photographer.

Cindy Sherman (1954-current) is a photographer whose genre of photography has to do with identity and (female) stereotypes as well as reality versus artificiality. She’s more interested in the grotesque, as opposed to beauty. What makes Cindy Sherman special is her pioneering vision; with makeup, wigs, prosthetics, and more recently: digital photo manipulation, she’s able to transform herself into different characters. To be clear, she is the model in all of her photos!

Sherman has been a major figure in the history of photography, with a career spanning over 40 years. Her most iconic photo series, which made her a household name, was her Untitled Film Stills series in which she modeled different female stereotypes; the characters she made were meant to resemble old Hollywood and film noir women, and the quality and composition of these photos replicate film stills meant to promote movies.

Later series in Sherman’s portfolio includes History Portraits, Sex Pictures, Clowns, and Flappers. There are more, but I did not have them in my presentation because I chose to spotlight Untitled Film Stills.

Sherman’s latest work focuses on gender identity and features herself as vaguely masculine androgynous characters.