Cindy Sherman

Cindy Sherman is a photographer that has been called Narcissistic, but I think of her as being an Actress of sorts, playing characters and photographing herself to preserve the various egos or personalities she has.  Some of her work raises and challenges important questions about the role and representation of woman in today's society.  She became famous by her Film Still series of white and black photographs of woman depicting the famous black and films and the roles woman played in these films.  As she got older she began using more make up and props. In 2003 she began doing images of clowns which is terribly creepy and colorful works.  Other later works that Cindy began to do is the images of Rich Older Woman, all portrayed by her with the use of make up and costuming she becomes her characters and plays her role, and the final images once she added backgrounds in photoshop, she showcased these images in huge floor to ceiling photographs framed in rich wooden decorative frames, making these upper class woman larger than life.  She also did a series where she portrayed 18th and 19th century art paintings but made them with the humor and tongue and cheek she is known for.  Cindy spends a lot of her time at thrift stores grabbing clothing for shoots and trying to create her next character. Cindy Sherman is a woman with a thousand faces and what makes her so interesting is the fact that she is in every image she takes and her role in the work is critical. She is actually one of my favorite photographers and I know some people think that her lack of using models and her role in her photographs makes her narcissistic.  She was quoted saying, "I didn't want to make 'high' art, I had no interest in using paint, I wanted to find something that anyone could relate to without knowing about contemporary art. I wasn't thinking in terms of precious prints or archival quality; I didn't want the work to seem like a commodity."   She is a one of a kind Artist and is recognized because of it. Another quote that I can relate to that she said was, "When I do work, I get so much done in such a concentrated time that once I’m through a series, I’m so drained I don’t want to get near the camera." 


Please check out more of her work on her website:
http://www.cindysherman.com/