Untitled Film Still #21 - 1977 

Already on the first day of "Self: I as Image" course I already learned a lot about selfies. There is a deeper definition to a selfie then just taking a picture of yourself and uploading it on to either Snapchat, Instagram or even Facebook. Cindy Sherman, who is widely recognized as one of the most important and influential artists in contemporary art" (Cindy Sherman | MoMA.) was one of the few that used her photography tactics to expose the audiences to another whole of photography. Sherman was born in 1954, watching her documentary really helped understand her personality, character and her hobby. Sherman is clearly an independent woman in life. There would be days where she will not leave her house just so she could take self-portraits of herself. 

Something that I would fascinating was when Sherman stated in the video that she would sometimes rearrange her furniture, to make her back-ground look different when she takes a portrait. Sherman may change the setting to a hotel or the lobby of a building just so her photo. It doesn't only take a smart and intelligent woman to shoot a picture that will soon become worth ton of money, it takes devotion. As Sherman stated, " through a photograph you can make the people believe anything" it all depends on the angle and the position of the subject.

In both of the images shown above the writing, it looks like they are both looking at something, but you will never be able to tell. But looking at the demeanor of both of the subject Sherman seem to look at something with a discomfort and in the image. On the other hand I am looking at something with a nonchalant posture. "The picture may distort; but there is always a presumption that something exists, or did exist, which is like what's in the picture" (Sontag). This is exactly the reason why I choose to pick one of Cindy Sherman art work. Looking at both of the images the audience will have a presumption that the subjects are both looking or focusing on something. On my behalf, I was not looking any anything. I was trying to take an off-guard picture on the other hand, we will never know what Sherman was looking at unless we were to ask her. Perhaps it was the same reason why I took the picture or maybe she was looking at some time and the shutter speed just so happen to catch her in that position. Overall, many of her pictures do remain as a mystery to why she took the photo the way she did or why she juxtaposes the objects in the photo.

Reference:

Cindy Sherman | MoMA. (n.d.). Retrieved September 12, 2017, from https://www.moma.org/calendar/exhibitions/1154?locale=en

Sontag, S. (2010). On photography. New York: Picador.