2/19

I am excited about studying photography because I know very little about historical photographers. I worked at a photo paper company for many summers, so I know about modern-day photographs and Adobe Photoshop. I have discovered my favorite portrait photographer, Cindy Sherman. She brings film and photography together by portraying a character. Because each of her photographs has a different character in a different setting, I like to see and compare each one of her photographs. That is one exhibit I would travel anywhere to see. By using herself as the subject, she makes each photograph strong by giving it meaning through representation. The fact that it is the same woman in every photograph has meaning in itself. One woman can have many faces and look physically different from day to day but be the exact same woman otherwise.
Her photographs raise feminist questions like what natural beauty is and who is the woman behind the appearance. Sherman portrays different classes of women (lower to upper) and has a realistic expression to each one. She makes the viewer think about how we look at women in film by having one still shot at a specific angle. In several of her photographs, the camera looks up to her and gives her a sense of power. There is a photograph where Sherman portrays a dead woman, and the camera looks down at her. This focuses more on her dead gaze out rather than our gaze at her.