Cindy Sherman face distortion

I think I did well to recreate Cindy Sherman’s work using the effect of face distortion. However, there are a few differences between her work and my own. Cindy Sherman creates these pieces with the camera zoomed/ close up to the individuals face which captures the details really well. However, mine is more further away which means a lot of empty space is included. I think my photo could have been improved by copying her close up technique. Another difference is that a lot of Cindy’s work shows her main focus was creating these photos using the older generation whereas mine is an individual from the younger generation. A last difference is that Cindy has used a different person for the cut outs but kept them at a natural size. I decided to use a different person but change the size of the facial features so that they were unproportionable to the face underneath.

A similarity between the two is the different shades. though in this photo she used black and white and I did not, the cut outs are still very clear as there is a difference in skin tone.

Cindy Sherman Female Stereotypes

For this inspiration, I did two sperate photoshoots so I’ve added both. The first one on the left is a copy of Cindy’s photo in my own setting with my own props whereas the second shoot is more of a general inspiration for female stereotypes and not a direct copy of any of her work.

I think the first photo turned out fairly well as it can be quite clear that I have taken inspiration from this particular photo. A similarity of this photo compared to Cindy’s is the use of props. I have taken her idea of adding a pan in the frame to further show the fact that the setting is located in a kitchen. as well as this, she has props that surround her which also bring across this idea and this is also evident in my photo with the use of the apron in the background and the kitchen towel. A difference is the chosen poses. I decided to busy myself with doing something to show the setting more whereas Cindy is looking over her shoulder.

I think the other photoshoot turned out well and is by far my strongest. It matches Cindy’s ideas of showing the general things a woman would stereotypically do. As dance is generally thought as a female sport I decided to also show a stereotype within my photos as well. The particular phot I have chosen shows the individual looking into the mirror fixing her lashes which is also seen as a female thing to do. In both photos, Both woman are not looking to the camera which creates a more natural looking photograph There are a few differences as it is not a direct inspiration. I have not used black and white anywhere in this photo as I think the use of the red lights reflecting off the navy costume is very effective so using black and white would cancel that out.

Duane Michals Reflections

I think this inspiration turned out quite well as its fairly similar to Michals’ idea but also has its differences. We have both used the black and white effect on our images which I think turned out well. As well as this, both takes have a source of light included but one is artificial and one is natural. I think the natural light looks a lot better so I would change that if I were to do it again. We have both used circular mirrors to show the reflections but mine is a lot smaller which lead me to focus on individual separate facial features whereas Michals shows a large part of the face in the mirror. I have not added a person into my photo as the mirror was small and it was tricky to add myself into the photo as well as getting the right angle on the mirror. This differs from Michals as you can see the individual is included in the photo.