Cindy Sherman; "I sculpt my body to make it 'beautiful'.
Cindy Sherman is a twentieth century woman with unique talent. She goes beyond her unusual photography and confronts gender stereotypes throughout her time. Her "untitled film stills" are her most famous contribution to her artwork. A majority of Sherman's works are poses of herself as other women by wearing a disguise. These women Sherman disguised herself as, did not have names or were not real women, they were a specific type of character that Sherman wanted to share to the public. Many critics question whether or not she is really a photographer. While doing my research, I have found that Cindy Sherman is more than a photographer, she is a woman with intense desires, dreams, and illusions, that stimulate the imagination of most human beings. In contrast to painters, Sherman uses her camera as the medium. Artists use paint and brushes to portray their ideas. Sherman does not perceive herself as the subject in the photographs, but as the model in disguise. "None of Cindy Sherman's images is of Cindy Sherman as. They are of The Girl for whom Cindy posed." (Cindy Sherman p.10) At best they are of Cindy posing as other identities of women she connects with. "Sherman's face is a neutral base on which she inscribes the countless faces of The Girl in her myriad embodiments." (Cindy Sherman p.10) Cindy Sherman's stills contain no identity, even the name of the still is "Untitled". Many people do not believe the still shots are all of Sherman. It is Rare that a human being would realize that each still is "Cindy Sherman". Sherman does not title her photographs because she feels the viewer should be able to draw their own conclusions on the photograph using their imagination. She forces the viewer to think beyond what they see, and go deeper into the actually picture. Her images fall into two main categories; masks, and photos of mannequins, garbage, toys, and unidentified objects.
