Cindy Sherman’s work is often classified as photography however the primary content of her work is achieved through her role as a performance artist. Sherman fused performance and photography to create female archetypes within popular culture. Over the years, Sherman has believably embodied hundreds of female characters.
However, by nature, Sherman is far more introverted and soft-spoken than her pictures would suggest. By working in the medium of photography she is free from the pressures of the live performance space. Instead of being concerned with holding the attention of a live audience, she is able to devote her attention to constructing conditions and embodying her character.
Sherman creates context for her performances by controlling the elements within the frame such as location, props, and costume. Her complex system of visual cues begins to suggest a narrative. Her series Untitled Film Stills evoke the essence of hypothetical female characters within traditions of film. By recreating the fiction, she reveals the fiction.
Working in the medium of photography, Sherman is able to perform outside of the conventional live performance spaces. The settings in Sherman’s Untitled Film Stills range from intimate, domestic, interior spaces to both public and desolate exteriors. Separated from a live audience, Sherman is able to truly create the essence of solitude in her works. Sherman portrays woman and her constructed relationships to internal and external worlds.
In her later Untitled Color Photographs she reduces the roles of costume and set and focuses in on gesture to create characterization. For example, she often positions herself in passive reclining postures to imply submissiveness. She seduction positioning of her body is juxtaposed by her the look of distress in her facial expressions. In one of her Untitled Color Photographs, she poses a schoolgirl crouched down and looking up with a sense of fright and desperation as if she has been attacked. The use of photography gives her performances a heightened sense of voyeurism. The viewer is able to peer into a seemingly private moment of the characters life that we are not supposed to see.
Additionally Sherman uses composition and framing to highlight the performance elements within her photographs. Furthermore, Sherman is able to heighten emotional tension and create a desired mood with lighting. Sherman later dives deeper into the characterization with the use of cosmetics. She also reintroduces wardrobe even more strongly than before in her series of Untitled History Portrait as well as her Untitled portraits of aging women.
However, by nature, Sherman is far more introverted and soft-spoken than her pictures would suggest. By working in the medium of photography she is free from the pressures of the live performance space. Instead of being concerned with holding the attention of a live audience, she is able to devote her attention to constructing conditions and embodying her character.
Sherman creates context for her performances by controlling the elements within the frame such as location, props, and costume. Her complex system of visual cues begins to suggest a narrative. Her series Untitled Film Stills evoke the essence of hypothetical female characters within traditions of film. By recreating the fiction, she reveals the fiction.
Working in the medium of photography, Sherman is able to perform outside of the conventional live performance spaces. The settings in Sherman’s Untitled Film Stills range from intimate, domestic, interior spaces to both public and desolate exteriors. Separated from a live audience, Sherman is able to truly create the essence of solitude in her works. Sherman portrays woman and her constructed relationships to internal and external worlds.
In her later Untitled Color Photographs she reduces the roles of costume and set and focuses in on gesture to create characterization. For example, she often positions herself in passive reclining postures to imply submissiveness. She seduction positioning of her body is juxtaposed by her the look of distress in her facial expressions. In one of her Untitled Color Photographs, she poses a schoolgirl crouched down and looking up with a sense of fright and desperation as if she has been attacked. The use of photography gives her performances a heightened sense of voyeurism. The viewer is able to peer into a seemingly private moment of the characters life that we are not supposed to see.
Additionally Sherman uses composition and framing to highlight the performance elements within her photographs. Furthermore, Sherman is able to heighten emotional tension and create a desired mood with lighting. Sherman later dives deeper into the characterization with the use of cosmetics. She also reintroduces wardrobe even more strongly than before in her series of Untitled History Portrait as well as her Untitled portraits of aging women.
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