Cynthia Morris Sherman is an American artist whose work consists primarily of photographic self-portraits, depicting herself in many different contexts and as various imagined characters

Cindy Sherman is among the most significant artists of the Pictures Generation to make the art analysed.

In 1972, Sherman enrolled in the visual arts department at Buffalo State University, where she majored in painting. During this time, she began to explore the ideas which became a hallmark of her work: She dressed herself as different characters, cobbled together from thrift-store clothing.

her main goal in photography was To portray the various roles and identities of herself and other modern women. Though Sherman is both the woman in front of the lens and behind it, she appears masked through make-up and costume, disguised to resemble familiar female stereotypes; her women are images of women, “models of femininity projected by the media to encourage imitation and identification”

She is adamant that her photos are not self portraits, this may be because they are different identities of her, therefore she may not count this as self portrait as it is not who she is as she is roleplaying a housewife.

image analysis:

Cindy Sherman is trying to adopt the character of a housewife in the kitchen. you can see that she is near kitchen apparatus and wearing an apron. Cindy is staring away from the camera with a dull looking expression on her face. this could because she is looking at someone or something. she is cramped into the side of the photo, which could mean that she’s not important. she is also holding her stomach which could either to make her feel protected if she may be pregnant. The title to this photo is ‘Untitled film still #3’ this could mean that she is so un unimportant therefore the film is too.

• the aperture in Cindys photo is large
• The Shutter speed is fast as the photo is focused as we can see the details.
• The photo has been taken from a low angle. this makes it feel like she’s in the same room as us.
• it is a half body shot which makes her look smaller and less important. it also makes it more intimate as we are closer to her.

Contextual

It was a time where there was many stereotypes in mass media. Historically, media narratives have constrained women to traditional roles, depicting them as caring figures or hostile antagonists. Girls were often portrayed as focusing more on their appearance, as well as being judged for their appearance. Entirely fictitious, these “stills” deftly encapsulate the images of femininity that, through the media culture of movies, had a hold on America’s collective imagination at the time.

This photograph from early in Cindy Sherman’s artistic career indicates a burgeoning interest in what has become a lifelong investigation into using herself as subject. Produced in 1975, during her time as an art student at the State University of New York, Buffalo, the work prefigures her famous Untitled Film Stills series by two years. In it, the artist references Claude Cahun, an early Surrealist photographer whose androgynous self-portraits inspired a later generation of feminist theorists to think about gender as a social role that is performed rather than innate—ideas that would become central to Sherman’s oeuvre from the mid-1970s onward.

Claude Cahun

Claude Cahun, first named Lucy Schwob, was born in 1894 and died in 1954, was a French surrealist artist, photographer, and writer, best known for her exploration of gender, identity, and self-representation. She is recognized as a pioneer in challenging traditional gender norms, often presenting herself in androgynous or ambiguous ways in her self-portraits. Cahun’s work questioned fixed gender roles long before such ideas were widely accepted, making her a significant figure in early feminist and queer art.

Cahun’s connection with Jersey began early, with childhood holidays spent in Jersey and Brittany. They were born Lucy Schwob in Nantes, France to a wealthy Jewish family. But in their late teens and early twenties Cahun had been looking for a new, gender-neutral name for a while. They fixed on the name Claude Cahun in 1918. At that time they was in a same-sex relationship with Suzanne Malherbe, who used the pseudonym Marcel Moore. They had become step siblings in their mid-teens and at some point a closer relationship developed.

Cahun’s goal was to challenge the societal norms surrounding gender and identity. She used self-portraiture as a tool to deconstruct and explore various personalities, often presenting herself in androgynous or fragmented forms. Through costumes, makeup, and props, Cahun blurred the lines between masculinity and femininity, demonstrating that identity is not fixed but rather fluid and performative. Her work aimed to provoke viewers to rethink conventional notions of gender and self-expression.

‘I am training don’t kiss me’ by Claude Cahun

In this photograph, Cahun is sat facing the camera, however her gaze is directed downward, with her face partially obscured by her hands. This creates a sense of mystery and ambiguity.

Cahun’s outfit is simple and androgynous which helps contribute to the blurring of gender boundaries in the image. She wears a loose, neutral outfit, steering away from the traditional feminine dress of the time. this challenges the social norm of what woman would wear back then in the 1920s

The object Cahun holds in her hands is a dumbbell weight, an unexpected item for a female figure during the 1920s, a time when women were often portrayed as delicate and wouldn’t lift weights. The dumbbell symbolizes strength, power, and physicality, which is in stark contrast to the more passive, ornamental role often assigned to women.

on her shirt it says : “I am training – don’t kiss me.” This statement is both a literal and symbolic declaration of independence. It suggests that Cahun is focused on personal growth or training—whether intellectual, artistic, or physical—and rejects traditional romantic or sexual roles.