Cindy Sherman

Who is she ?

Sherman tends to stay away from theoretical discussions, but people often categorize her work as feminist. A key focus of her art is challenging common stereotypes about women. By taking photos of herself in different scenarios, she highlights how women are often objectified.

Initially, while studying at art school and influenced by the wave of American Feminism, Sherman focused on super-realistic painting. However, by the late 1970s, she shifted her attention to photography to delve into various typical female social roles and identities.

Cindy Sherman is known for her unique approach to art, where she uses self-portraits to invent fictional characters. Through her work, she dives into important topics like identity, how people are represented, and what femininity really means.

Cindy Sherman explores some pretty intense themes in her self-portraits, like sexual desire and the idea of control, along with how we create our identities through deception. Her art really reflects the overwhelming consumer culture and the explosion of images that defined the late 20th century.

While she was in college, she found her love for photography and started trying out self-portraits, which would eventually shape her career. By dressing up, posing, and taking pictures of herself in various situations, Sherman skilfully comments on how women are represented in mainstream media.

Some of her photos

Image Analysis

Visual – In this photo the character is Cindy Sherman, she is possibly portraying a housewife. she is on the right third of this image, she appears trapped or cramped in the small apartment kitchen. She is looking over her shoulder as if something is taking her attention. Her left arm is fully extended onto the counter, furthermore her right arm is across her stomach as if she’s on guard. In the image is dishes and other kitchen appliances which take up more space in the image than she does which could show that they are more important than her and it could hint at the stereotype of women at the time.

Technical – The aperture is likely wide aperture and a shallow depth of field as the foreground is blurred. The shutter speed is to be faster due to the subject being fully in focus with a balanced exposure. The angle was taken from roughly waist height which makes her seem taller, it also makes the view seem like they are part of the setting and up close with her.-

Contextual – Historically women where seen as house wife’s or kitchen maids, this is shown by the image. Sherman casts herself in various stereotypical female roles inspired by 1950s and 1960s films. They represent clichés or feminine types.

Conceptual – Overall, Cindy is using selfies to show she can deceive everyone and can be who she’s wants to be. Furthermore challenging mass media. This also relates to the current culture of phones and media.

Second Artist Analysis

Claude Cahun

Who is she?

Claude Cahun, originally named Lucy Renee Mathilde Schwob, was a French artist born on October 25, 1894, and she passed away on December 8, 1954. She was known for her work as a surrealist photographer, sculptor, and writer. In 1914, she chose the name Claude Cahun as her pseudonym. Cahun gained recognition for her writing and her unique self-portraits, where she often took on different performative identities.

Some of her photos

Image Analysis

Technical – The lighting in this image is likely to be natural lighting, this is because the setting is quite dark and there isn’t any obvious artificial light sources. The aperture is likely to be low, something like f/1.8 or f/2 with a shallow depth of field, I think this because the background seems to be out of focus and the subject seems to be the only thing in focus. Moreover the shutter speed is probably fast, something 200 or above, I think this because the subject is in focus and the image is rather dark which could be caused by a fast shutter speed. Finally the ISO is likely to be quite high, something 800 or above, this is because I can see visual noise within the image.

Visual – There is little colour in this image, it is all black and white which creates a nice contrast between the subject and the background. there id little outstanding or obvious texture in this image, The subjects skin is pretty smooth with only some texture apparent on the back of the head. There is a decent amount of negative space which probably equals nearly half the image, however it does not take the focus away from the subject.

Contextual – This image was taken in the early 1930s and was in Western Europe. In this image she shaved her head due to the fact that she was trans gender and identified as a man, furthermore it also alludes to the war how the Nazis as she was Jewish.

Conceptual – She could be alluding to the concentration camps with the shaved head, furthermore her back turned could means she’s trying to make it harder for the view to distinguish if its a woman or a man. Finally the tank top she’s wearing is typically men’s clothing, meaning she is further trying to resemble a man.