Tuesday, January 30, 2024

Weekly Selfie 2 - Cindy Sherman

Aileen Herrera Ojeda


“The Cindy Sherman Effect”, Phoebe Hoban


“By deconstructing and reinventing portraiture, which in itself was something of a dead genre when she arrived on the scene, Sherman influenced not only photographers but also painters and performance and video artists. And by limiting her subject matter strictly to herself, while at the same time excavating countless permutations, she inspired a generation of younger artists to explore their own identities across a range of mediums.”


I found it very interesting how Cindy Sherman was able to not only reinvented what it meant to create a portrait but as well as inspired more than just photographers, spreading her influence through different types of mediums and even decades as her work still inspires artists today. Focusing on exploring different identities while only using herself is also a unique concept.


“What Cindy did, starting with the ‘Film Stills,’ is she realized the degree to which the stills used to promote cinema influenced the way people portrayed themselves, and she saw it as pure theater. That’s what I see as one of her great strengths—the theatrics of camera vision.”


Specifically I was very inspired by Sherman’s “Film Stills”. I thought they were so well done and really looked like they came out of a movie. I can definitely tell that Sherman has a sort of cinematic eye when it comes to her photographs but specifically from her “Film Stills”.


“The Ugly Beauty of Cindy Sherman”, Parul Sehgal


“She has worked alone since then, with her camera and mirror and prosthetics. “Nobody’s here but me,” she says…”


Seeing Cindy Sherman’s works throughout the years, it's truly incredible how she was able to capture a lot of these photos on her own. From the concept to actual photo her vision and artist eye is one of a kind. It really shows that you don’t need a whole crew or fancy equipment, just a camera and yourself. Very inspirational for young artist now.


“It was easy to erase myself and put on somebody else’s face and say, ‘Maybe now you guys will remember me,’ or ‘How about this face or that character?’ ”


In this article there are a few lines of Sherman’s personal life including her childhood. She grew up feeling left out, almost like she was forgotten. She put on characters to see if her family would pay attention to her. Its interesting to see where these ideas of identity all started from. Cindy Sherman - Untitled Film Stills #32


Inspiration/Source Image

Cindy Sherman - Untitled Film Stills #32


Recreation I

I decided to recreate one of Cindy Sherman's Untitled Film Stills since they were my favorites out of her work. I picked this still in particular because it just looked so gloomy and had a dark feel to it, which I tried to recreate.

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