Cindy Sherman was born in January 19, 1954 in the United States, She was part of the Pictures generation photography movement whose purpose was to make art that analysed their relationship with popular culture and the mass media. She worked at the intersection of personal and collective memory section where she rummaged through the throwaway products from their youth.

Before she became a photographer she at first experimented painting in a super-realist style in art school during the aftermath of American Feminism. She then in the 1970s decided to turn to photography to explore a wide range of common female social roles.

Her key goals of her photography is that she wanted her work to be characterised by her use of self-portraiture to create fictional characters and to explore themes such as identity, representation and the construction of femininity.

To achieve her goals she would typically take photographs of herself in a range of different costumes to portray the common roles of women, the way society portrayed women as back then. And she would then take the photos by herself in her studio assuming multiple roles such as an author, director, make-up artist, hairstylist, wardrobe mistress, and model.

Cindy Sherman herself does not consider her work to be self-portraits as she took the pictures while wearing a costume/being in character but she does acknowledge that technically in the photo wearing the costumes is her but in her opinion she does not agree that her photos are a self portrait.

Cindy Sherman Image Analysis

Visual

The character that Sherman is adopting may be a women in her home who is not very comfortable and may be stressed, to back up my claim you can see on the right side of the dresser the picture frame of her, you can also see the positioning of her hand where on hand is comforting her neck like she is holding it up and on the other hand it looks like she’s holding a weapon especially with the angle that she’s holding it at. The mirror on the wall reveals her back which can suggest that she is vulnerable and we also get to see a table with a cocktail glass and a jacket on the chair which could be hers or it could be someone else’s, and in the top left corner you can notice smoke which could suggest somebody else is in her home.

From all the things we can see in this image and the title being called an “Untitled Film Still” this may be trying to portray the typical women in distress that are often seen in movies and this photo was most likely created to criticise the media and their depiction of females.

Technical

The photo could be using a wide focus aperture as all the details in the foreground are clear and easy to see, the photo could of also used a slightly fast shutter speed as the subject doesn’t appear blurry and the photo also has a lot of light coming in. The angle of the photo is quite high to show her full body so we can have more of an idea of her character but also be able to view the things around the room which helps you immersive yourself in her environment. The photo is a full body shot as well as this helps to get a full view and understanding of her character.

Contextual

Back in 1978 where the picture was taken, women were perceived as house wife’s, being weak, couldn’t fight for themselves and struggling to be independent in society. The photo she has taken takes these ideas and she portrays them to criticise the media with how they used this perception of women that society saw back in the day and how they integrated those stereotypes into their films, hence why these series of photos she took were named “untitled film stills”. This photo is meant to show that women can fight for themselves and that the stereotypes that were used and seen were not accurate.

Conceptual

Seeing that the photo is not a housewife but instead Sherman herself who is posing, it gives us the idea that Sherman is the one directly calling the media out as she was the one who took and posed for her photos. She may have done this to show the mass media that she’s aware of what happens in the media and how females are presented in those films, and criticises how they always make females look so vulnerable. This could link to the media today as there is still many movies and different types of media which still show women playing the same stereotypes from decades ago, However it is less common now then it used to be back in the 1970s.

Identity is the unique set of characteristics that are used to describe and identify the person themselves. Identity is not just based off looks but also their personality, views, interests and what they do in their life in general. Having an identity is important as you can identify yourself as a person and it can also help you connect with people who may have similar interests as you.

Femininity is the characteristics, attributes, behaviours and anything related that is generally associated with women and girls. For example this is things like long hair, wearing pink, having long nails or they’re moods and personality. It is basically a typical representation and picture of how women and girls are seen.

Masculinity is the same but with characteristics of men and boys. This can be things like being strong, independence, confidence and taking interest in things like football and cars. Its the typical representation and picture of how men and boys are seen.

Identity can be influenced by lots of things like for example:

Gender identity is the identification of someone’s gender and how they perceive themselves. People may identify themselves as someone different and differ themselves to how society would perceive them as.

Culture identity is a part of a persons identity and is usually related to their race, culture, nationality and religion. For example stating your nationality would be identifying your culture identity.

Social identity is the group in society that you identify as, for example people born in 1997 – 2012 would be identified as gen z as they were born in that specific span of a few years. So if they’re gen z they would be seen in the gen z group of society.

Geographical identity is the identification of a person based in the country/area they live in, for example lets say you were born in Texas and raised there for a majority of your life you may refer to yourself as a Texan to other people.

Political identity is where people define and engage their beliefs in relation to the political system, movements and policies. There beliefs typically come from personal beliefs, cultural influences or experiences with governance and power dynamics.

Lack/loss of identity is where someone experiences confusion or absence of their identity. By having a lack or loss of identity it can affect a persons personal, social, cultural or political parts of their life and often leading them feeling disconnected with other people.

Stereotypes is assumptions or generalized beliefs made based by a persons characteristics such as their race, gender, age, religion, profession, nationality and other traits. These beliefs are often exaggerated and inaccurate and can lead to certain biases in how people see and interact with others.

Prejudices is a opinion or judgement made on someone without any reason, experience or evidence. This often involves negative attitudes, feelings or beliefs about people based on their particular group, such as gender, religion, race, ethnicity.

Creative Portraits are photos which focuses on both the surroundings of the photo as well as the person in the photo. Its a excellent way to depict a lot of information of a person just from looking at a single photo. Creative Portraits usually consist of images and other elements being combined to create unique images. There is many styles you can use in Creative Portraits which can help make your images look more creative and unique.

Double/Multi-Exposure

Double or Multi-Exposure is the process of layering a portion of images on top each other to create illusions. This can be done by either using a camera and adjusting the settings in order to take these multi-layered images or you can take multiple photos in the same place but different poses and then layer them on top of each other using photoshop.

By layering the photos it can result into some spectacular photos being created as there is many different ways you can layer out the photos to achieve the effect and look that you want. For example you can place the images very close together to make that blur effect or space them out evenly or away to create that ghost effect.

Photo Montage

Photomontage is the process of taking and gathering images and then editing them together mainly by cutting, gluing, rearranging or overlapping two or more together to make it into a new image. However Photomontage doesn’t have to be done physically, you can use editing programs like photoshop to edit your images in the style of photomontage like cutting pieces of the image and rearranging them or rotating them. As long as your edits fit the style of Photomontage then it can be done digitally.

This style is very popular and it was famously used to make political images. A Good example would be Russian Constructivism where many people created posters using Photo-Montage by using a solid background and a main subject for their images with usually a message written on it to get their point across.

Artist References

For my Double/Multi-Exposure I have chosen Man Ray as my inspiration as I like the poses that his subjects use in the photos as well as how he positions the subject to make the double exposure look unique and interesting which is something I want to replicate myself with my own ideas.

For my Photo Montage I have chosen Kensuoke Koike as my inspiration as I found it really interesting how he reconstructed the image in a way where it looked odd but appealing, most of the images are cut then reformed into different shapes and patterns which made it look more alluring to look at which is why I want to also replicate his photos and try achieve the same effect that his photos have.

My Photos

Double/Multi-Exposure

With my Double/Multi-Exposure images, I have been able to match the same style as Man Ray but with my own ideas, For the first image I told my subject to have a sinister look while also using a red colour gel to portray the red side as an evil while for the other side using a blue colour gel I got my subject to maintain that same position but to smile instead to show that the blue side is more of a happy/positive side. In the end it created a really interesting and funny image where you can see both sides of the Double Exposure perfectly. For the second image I tried to replicate that same idea but differently, I got my subject to make an angry expression like he was yelling with the red colour gel inserted to show the anger in his face while with the other side using the blue colour gel I got him to tilt the other way while making a happy and carefree expression which in the end resulted into another image I am quite proud of.

Photo Montage

With my Photo Montage images, I wanted to try replicate that same style that Kensuke Koike used with the shapes and patterns, so using photoshop I was able to find some shape and pattern templates and I ended up overlaying them on top of the image so I was able to cut out pieces of the image and rearrange them into unique patterns. In the end result it made for some very interesting and creative images with the first image being square pieces of his face flipped which worked out well thanks to the colour gel lighting in the image and with the second image being cut out triangle pieces of his face being rearranged in a way that ended up making it resemble the Rhombus shape.

These are my final photos presented in art steps. Overall I am satisfied with the result of my images and how they came out as they matched all the lighting techniques I wanted to use and they mostly look like unique photographs. However one thing I would do differently next time is I would try make the butterfly lighting look more dramatic/more clear as I think it could result into some even better photos if I was to achieve this.

Contact Sheet

I ended up not using a lot of the images that were taken as half of them were either not making eye contact with the camera or were test images and the other half I felt that it didn’t match the standards I was aiming for. However for the ones I did select I felt that they were effective attempts at the different lighting styles.

Attempt at Rembrandt Lighting

As you can see from my images I was able to capture the light triangle clearly under the eye which is the key characteristic of taking an image using Rembrandt lighting. You are also able to see the shadows casted under the right cheek and the right side of the nose which helps form that light triangle we are looking for. The strongest image out of these three is the one in the middle as I feel that it is clear to see the light triangle as well as the light intensity of the triangle which makes it easily visible for people to view the photo and identify that the image has used Rembrandt lighting.

Attempt at Chiaroscuro Lighting

As you can see from my images I was able to position the lights in a way where I could increase the amount of shadows and highlights that were casted around my face in order to attract the viewers attention more towards the shape of the face and the details of the face as well. Out of these three I would say the image on the right is the most effective as one side of the face is lit up which allows for those details to be visible and allows for the shape along my chin to be more visible, and the other side of the face which is blacked out which allows for the brighter side to be the main focus so the viewers attention is more towards the shape of the face around the divide in the middle.

Attempt at Butterfly Lighting

As you can see from my images I was able to position the light above the camera in order to cast shadows under the nose and to highlight some parts around the face which is what we want when trying to take pictures using butterfly lighting. Out of the these three I think that the image in the middle is the most effective as there is a clear visual of shadows under the nose and by the subject tilting their head slightly down it helped to create some minor shadows around the under and the top part of the eyelid.

Attempt at using Colour Gels

As you can see from my images I was able to put red coloured gel on the left side of the room and a blue coloured gel on the right side of the room which helped create this unique feel to the image. Coloured Gels have made these images standout and look more interesting to look at especially since the red and blue colours clash together nicely alongside each other. Out of these three images I think that the image on the left is more effective as it captures both of the colour gel lights perfectly creating a balance of both the red and blue light symmetrically on the subjects face.

By using studio (artificial) lighting it can help achieve some nice dramatic and intense photos, there are many creative possibilities you can use but some well known ones for studio portraits are Rembrandt lighting, butterfly lighting and chiaroscuro.

Rembrandt Lighting

Rembrandt Lighting is one of the many lighting techniques that are used for portrait photography. Rembrandt Lighting is named after Rembrandt Harmenszoom van Rijn who was a great Dutch painter. This technique refers to a way of lighting a face so that a upside down light triangle appears under the eye of the subject. This style ended up gaining lots of popularity in Hollywood around the early 20th century, Film director Cecil B. DeMille introduced spotlights which allowed for more realistic effects of light and shadows to be created into ‘plain’ studio lighting setups which were generally in use. This eventually became widely used in promotional photographs of film stars as it allowed for dramatic and eye-catching pictures of them to be created.

Why use Rembrandt Lighting?

Rembrandt Lighting is effective as it not only gives your subject an individual look but it also acts as a photographic device to draw the eye. In photography there are many ways you can achieve this with using things like leading lines, depth of field and negative fields which are all methods that are effective to draw the viewers eye to the subject of the image.

In portraiture the eyes of the subject are almost always the main focus point of the image and Rembrandt lighting shows this as the light triangle is always under your eye which then helps attract the viewers full attention to the subjects eye.

So by using the Rembrandt Lighting technique it becomes a very effective way to draw the viewers attention to focus on the eye of the subject which is the main aim of portraiture.

To take a picture of Rembrandt lighting you want to make sure that the key light is 45 degrees away from the camera while still shining the light at the subject. You could also use a reflector alongside it which will help create more shadows under the cheek which could make it easier to achieve that light triangle under the eye.

Butterfly Lighting

Butterfly lighting is another lighting technique which is primarily used in a studio setting. The name comes from the butterfly shaped shadow which is formed under the nose because the light being used is positioned above the camera. People also refer it as ‘paramount lighting’ or ‘glamour lighting’.

Butterfly Lighting is mostly used for portraits, It’s a light pattern that flatters mostly everybody which makes it one of the most common lighting setups used. Butterfly Lighting was popularly used to take photographs of some of classic Hollywood’s most famous stars which is why people also refer it to Paramount Lighting. With this lighting technique it can highlight the subjects cheekbones and create shadows under them which in some cases can make the subject look thinner.

Key light is essential for Butterfly Lighting and this can either be a flash unit or continuous. If the lighting is continuous it can allow you to use lights like strobes, speed lights, LEDs or in some cases even the sun. The main focus for Butterfly Lighting is not the quality of the light but the setup as for the best effect you would want to make sure your light is creating the right amount of shadows and highlights that you want to achieve.

Chiaroscuro

Chiaroscuro (Italian for light dark) is a visual element in art, it refers to the bold contrast between light and dark. It first appeared in the 15th century on a painting in Italy and Flanders (Holland), it is the effect of light modelling in paintings, drawings and printmaking where the three-dimensional volume is encouraged by high amounts of light and shadows.

Chiaroscuro in films

Film noir (French for “black film”), was a cinematic term which was used to describe stylish crime dramas made in Hollywood, Specifically ones which highlighted the moral ambiguity and sexual motivation. The classic Hollywood film noir period was popularly used from the early 1940s till the late 1950s. Film noir of that era often used the low key black and white visuals that were previously used in German Expressionist cinematography.

How is it used in photography?

In photography chiaroscuro is used to increase the amount of highlights and shadows which helps attract attention towards the shape of the subject.

To take a photo using the chiaroscuro lighting technique you would want to use a low key lighting setup where a key light will be used as the sole light source in order to achieve those dark backgrounds while also illuminating the subject with high shadow tones and highlights.

What is Studio Lighting?

Studio Lighting is artificial light that is used to light up the environment you want to take photos of. This can be used in a range of techniques to create different types of unique images.

People use Studio Lighting to get a range of special effects that can be applied to the subject, some of the effects are named Rembrandt lighting, Butterfly lighting and Chiaroscuro. Each effect involves manipulating the studio lighting to create a balance of light and shadows against the subjects face.

Types of studio lighting

Continuous lighting

2 Point Lighting Setup

With a 2 Point Lighting Setup you setup both lights facing the subject at a 45 degree angle with one angled up and one angled down. The goal of this lighting setup is to eliminate shadows from under the subjects nose and cheeks.

3 Point Lighting Setup

With a 3 Point Lighting Setup you setup two of the lights (The Key Light and Fill Light) so they are facing 45 degrees from the subject similar to the 2 Point Lighting Setup however the third light (Back Light) is placed behind the subject. By using Three sources of light it allows for more control of the shadows casted on the subject, highlights and the overall contrast. Its one of the best and well known lighting setups as it allows for total control of the environment and also allows for you to shape how you want your subject to be viewed as.

Fill Lighting

Fill Lighting is used to fill in any shadows that the key light may create, it is usually placed in front of the subject but on the opposite side of the key lighting. It is primarily used on a 3 Point Lighting Setup. Fill lighting can be useful for revealing more details of a subject that were hidden due to the shadow of the key light.

Coloured Gels

Coloured Gels is a transparent coloured material that is attached on to the red-head lights which can modify the temperature and the feel of the image which is useful if you want to find a type of lighting to suit the subject your taking a picture of or if you want to make your picture look unique or standout more.

It is used for multiple different purposes such as to colour light and for colour correction and it is used in not only just photography but in videography and theatre as well.

Evaluation:

Overall, I think that the images that I took were effective and this is because I was able to capture the subject actually doing their work in their usual environment so not only did it make the image feel authentic but you could also see what was happening at the moment and what the subject was doing or in the middle of doing. I also like the environments used as its easy to identify what my subjects usual environment is and the tools/equipment needed to proceed with their work. Editing these images also helped a lot as I was able to bring more detail out which helped show more things in the environment which can make the image look more compelling. However I do feel that I could of attempted to take more images of other different environments as well as using different composition techniques which would of helped to make the image stand out even more.

Typology like representation using art steps:

Image #1

What I have done to this image is that I have decreased the exposure of the image in order to make it less brighter which will help capture some more detail around the bright areas as well as increasing the contrast to help reveal more detail all around, I have also increased the temperature of the image to reduce some of the bright white colours along the top of the image.

I have also cropped the image so it focuses more on the subject as well as also using composition mainly rule of thirds which has helped make the subject occupy most of the image making it the main focus which is what I want.

Image #2

I did not crop this image as I wanted to retain the perfect symmetry of my subject being at the centre of my image. This helps the subject be the main focus of the image especially as they are right in the centre so its most likely the first thing you see when you view this image.

Image #3

With this image I adjusted the exposure slightly to brighten up the image and then I also increased the contrast in order to preserve more detail, however due to the high ISO this image was taken in, increasing both the exposure and contrast made some details in the image hard to view so to counter this I decreased the Highlights dramatically which helped restore the visibility of the details in this image.

With this image I didn’t adjust the exposure as the image was already bright when I took it, I did adjust the contrast to bring out more detail in things like the engine or the texture on the floor and wall, I also decreased the Highlights a lot as it helped decrease places in the image where it was overexposed primarily in the wall so now it makes the texture on the wall much more visible compared to before I edited it. Last thing I did was decrease the image temperature to remove some faint yellow light that was present before.

With this image I adjusted the exposure slightly to give some dark areas of the photos more light and also adjusted the contrast to bring more shadow and detail into the photo. I also decreased the Highlights as some areas of the photo were too bright especially around the face so decreasing the highlights helped reduce the bright areas and bring out some details. I also decreased the temperature slightly as it helped to remove the faint yellow tint you could see in the image due to the lighting.

I cropped the image to ensure that the subject is the main focus of the image using the rule of thirds composition, its also cropped really nicely in a way where you can see not only the subject but what he is doing with the vehicle which helps identify what his usual environment is.

Image #6

This image needed a lot of editing done to it as the image quality before the edits were quite grainy and dark due to me accidently leaving the ISO at a high value, to counter this I first made sure to increase exposure slightly to brighten the image and slightly reduce the contrast as adding more contrast to this dark image made it look darker and more grainy. To preserve as much visual detail as I could I turned the highlights all the way down which was needed for this image as it helped uncover the missing details in this image like the corner of the wall on the left side of the image, that was completely white until I adjusted the highlights. I also adjusted the image temperature by turning it down to remove the yellow tint in the image which helped to show more minor details that was missing.

With how this image was taken, I was had to crop it to meet the rule of thirds composition which in return made this image not look too bad. We can clearly see the subject at her workplace interacting with the fridge which takes up around half the image so it makes it easy for the subject to be identified and seen.

Contact Sheet

By making a contact sheet it has helped me determine which images I think are best to be shown as my final images, There were images I colour coded yellow as my subject either appeared blurry or the image quality/angle wasn’t at the standards I wanted. There were images I colour coded red as my subject was looking away from the camera or the image wasn’t very relevant to what I was trying to capture. The images I colour coded green are images I think are worth choosing as my final images as they meet all my criteria and I think will look great when presented.

My Best Photos

I have selected these photos to be edited and used as my final images as they show a clear representation of my subjects usual environment and they are captured in the moment of their work which makes these images feel more genuine. They also show lots of details in the background of their environment.