Cindy Sherman: "Untitled Horrors"

Cindy Sherman 

Sherman is an American photographers and film director, known for her conceptual portraits.

Her main tool is her camera, and her props include the costume, makeup, lighting and masks. She uses her props to morph her body and usual appearance into something entirely different - to the point where her sense of 'self' is depleted. I find that through the images she is able to build a narrative between the viewer and herself in the way that she frames and poses within the image. Whilst I feel like there was an element of 'posing' and awareness, I still feel like the images have the potential to be action shots - as though the character she is capturing is simply just 'paused' temporarily in the images.

She makes me consider the importance of gesture, the way in which she holds herself in the photo and the way in which I can sense her presence almost as thought it were a film. Perhaps that is what she aims to achieve - the notion that these images are in fact film. 

I'm also intrigued in the way Cindy uses prosthetics to create particular looks - further obscuring her sense of normality and identity. I'd be keen to use prosthetics in my practice to gain a sense of how this can be used to create puppets or objects in the future.