Cindy Sherman
Cindy Sherman
Cynthia Morris "Cindy" Shermanis an American photographer and film director, best known for her conceptual portraits. In 1995, she was the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionPhotographer
Date of Birth19 January 1954
CityGlen Ridge, NJ
CountryUnited States of America
appreciation attitude eye
I don't think I can see the world through other people's eyes, but I can capture an attitude or a look that makes others think I can. I have an appreciation for why people choose to look the way they do. But I can't know what they experience.
ideas pieces photographer
My ideas are not developed before I actually do the pieces.
way pieces lost
The way I see it, as soon as I make a piece I’ve lost control of it.
character thinking trying
I'm good at using my face as a canvas… I'll see a photograph of a character and try to copy them on to my face. I think I'm really observant, and thinking how a person is put together, seeing them on the street and noticing subtle things about them that make them who they are.
self looks portraits
I feel I'm anonymous in my work. When I look at the pictures, I never see myself; they aren't self-portraits. Sometimes I disappear.
giving people feminist
I am always surprised at all the things people read into my photos, but it also amuse me. That may be because I have nothing specific in mind when I'm working. My intentions are neither feminist nor political. I try to put double or multiple meanings into my photos, which might give rise to a greater variety of interpretations…
character trying cindy
[My work is] maybe about me maybe not wanting to be me and wanting to be all these other characters. Or at least try them on.
thinking challenges trying
If I knew what the picture was going to be like I wouldn’t make it. It was almost like it was made already.. the challenge is more about trying to make what you can’t think of.
fashion interesting models
The models have always been the least interesting thing about fashion.
opposites careers people
Early in my career, a critic said that I needed to "explain" the irony in my work, suggesting that I needed to add text next to the images to help people understand what I was trying to say. At first I was dismayed that I wasn't making work with a clear enough message. That's when I realized that that was the exact opposite of what I wanted to do - that I wasn't responsible for a misinterpretation of my work, that there should be some ambiguity to it. They either got it, or they didn't.
promise stories photographer
The still must tease with the promise of a story the viewer of it itches to be told.
silly thinking self
Everyone thinks these are self-portraits but they aren't meant to be. I just use myself as a model because I know I can push myself to extremes, make each shot as ugly or goofy or silly as possible.
people trying
I’m trying to make other people recognize something of themselves rather than me.
distance opposites ideas
I like making images that from a distance seem kind of seductive, colorful, luscious and engaging, and then you realize what you're looking at is something totally opposite. It seems boring to me to pursue the typical idea of beauty, because that is the easiest and the most obvious way to see the world. It's more challenging to look at the other side.