Cindy Sherman, born January 19, 1954
in New Jersey, is a photographer known for her unusual photography during the
1980s. The subjects seen in her photographs are her, yet not her. Sherman
models for all of her photography, taking on a different role in each
photograph. When viewing her photography one sees Sherman and tries to tie in
the persona from the photograph with Sherman. Although she models for her own
photography, she denies any reflection of herself in the photographs. The
photographs she has been know for resemble movie stills and paintings. Many of
the roles portrayed in her photographs appear to be statements on gender roles
and the human condition. Sherman appears to be a contradiction herself, quoted
saying, "The work is what it is and hopefully it's seen as feminist work,
or feminist-advised work, but I'm not going to go around espousing theoretical
bullshit about feminist stuff." As well as according to Meagher, "Sherman
resists both these monikers; she refuses to call either herself or her work
`feminist’ and insists that her work is a-, or even anti-, theoretical" (20). Whatever Sherman's intention, one can see that she has brought a new light to women.
-Lenea Patterson
Works Cited
Meagher, Michelle.
"Would the Real Cindy Sherman Please Stand Up? Encounters between Cindy Sherman and Feminist Art Theory." Women
Spring 2002: 18-36. EBSCOhost. Web.
5 March 2012.
It's very interesting that she does seem to contradict herself since she both hopes that it will send a feminist message and views her work as anti theoretical. The picture you have posted here reminds me of a movie still from Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds. Great post.
ReplyDelete-Kiley Ging
I find Cindy Sherman to be really neat. I love how she models in her photography and they depict gender roles. I looked up some of her photography after reading this post and I am intrigued. I love that the photographs seem to depict all women. I love the photographs you posted.
ReplyDelete-Brandy Weeks
At first glance, Cindy Sherman does appear to be a contradiction. She said that she hoped her work would be seen as a feminist work or as a feminist advised work.To me, this doesn't contradict the fact that she didn't want to apply the feminist label to herself or to her work. She may have wanted the others to make the final judgement about her and her art. Once the art, the photograph, is out in the world, it should speak for itself. Also, art tends to suffer when the artist becomes too self-conscious.
ReplyDelete-Corey Daniel Burris (Danny)