Cindy Sherman has made 70 black and white photographs called Untitled Film Still from 1977 to 1980. In these photos, Cindy Sherman dressed as various stereotypical female cinema roles inspired by 1940s and 1950s films. The "stills" capture moments of different personas Cindy Sherman has created, the moments photographs a “character” being apparently lonely, in a vulnerable moment of thought, or in dialogue with someone off-set and outside of the frame. These staged scenes are meant to resemble the format, scale, and quality of the “stills” used to promote films. (MoMA)
While talking about her Untitled Film Series, Sherman is quoted in saying “it’s interesting to show what you might perhaps never see.” this statement is essentially the concept of my self-portrait series Unknowingly “Film Stills” that I have created. My photos are meant to portray different cinematic scenes in a “film” starring myself. I was inspired by the notion of the mystery and suspense of what happened before, after, or even during the scene that is taking place in the photograph. Since it’s all fictional and fabricated there is no real telling of the storyline of what this “film” could be, which was my intention, it meant to be unknown. I wanted the viewer’s perspective and their own insight to create a narrative towards the emotions and reactions that I am showcasing in these “film stills.”
“I didn't want to make what looked like art I just thought, No I want to make something that looks mass-produced. I didn't want to have anything to do with art theory and I wanted it to look like anybody would understand it because it looks like it's from a movie.” (Cindy Sherman) Sherman’s intention for this series was to create these completely fabricated scenes but also for it to be familiar to the viewer like it’s a film they have seen before. “I wanted to imitate something out of the culture and also making fun of the culture as I was doing. I was specifically imitating movie stills from the 50s and 40s, I just remembered being a gawky adolescent trying to fit into these molds that women were supposed to wear and do and it was just fascinated me that the whole concept of artificiality.” (Cindy Sherman) this quote represents that Sherman had a feminist approach to this series to showcase how influential film, television, and advertisement are with displaying idealistic women on screen. She was also spotlighting and making fun of the stereotypical emotional and overdramatic female characters that movies represent.
Sources:
MoMA: https://www.moma.org/learn/moma_learning/cindy-sherman-untitled-film-stills-1977-80/
Quotes by Cindy Sherman: https://www.christies.com/features/cindy-shermans-untitled-film-stills-4973-3.aspx
3 Quotes from the readings:
1. “Sherman’s, or at least mines similar conceptual veins: role-playing and the nature of identity; sexual and cultural stereotypes; the pressure to conform to the images of perfection promulgated through television, film, and advertising.” (Phoebe Hoban, ArtNew)
I admired that Cindy Sherman showcases the pressure media put on young girls to look and act a certain way. It’s also evident to mention that media doesn’t represent a lot of dark skin people of color in their movies, television shows, or advertising which also puts pressure on them since they rarely see being represented on screen.
2. “What Cindy did, starting with the ‘Film Stills,’ is she realized the degree to which the stills used to promote cinema influenced the way people portrayed themselves, and she saw it as pure theater.” (Phoebe Hoban, ArtNew)
This quote represents how Cindy Sherman wanted to recreate the fabrication of the influence films had on people. This relates to my series because I also fabricated these “scenes” to almost imitate stereotypical scenes in films.
3. "Arts, it is most often seen in parts, through individual scenes and rarely with its accompanying text.”
(Revisiting Carrie Mae Weems’s Landmark “Kitchen Table Series”)
I remember speaking about this quote and it essentially relates to the series I created. Without the artist’s statement on their work, the meaning and hidden messages of the art are completely unknown. The viewer has their own perception of the art they are witnessing and create their own insight of what the piece is or represents. The connection is all up to the viewer which is what makes art amazing because everyone has a different narrative or meaning to what they see. This is why I wanted the storyline of my “film still” series to be open to the audience.
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