Generally regarded as being one
of the most important and influential achievements of postmodernist, conceptual
and photographic art, the 69 self-portraits from Cindy Sherman’s three year
(1977-80) project, “The Untitled Film Stills”, are brought together in this
book, produced by the Museum of Modern Art (New York), which owns the
images. In this series of self-portraits Sherman delights in dressing up and
acting out female roles inspired by the movie culture, mass media and
advertising. Her black and white images explore the themes of contemporary
culture, voyeurism, sexual desire and feminism at the time whilst simultaneously looking at
the Hollywood society and exploitative advertising. A handful of Sherman’s
images have become extremely well-known, but I had never seen most of the
series before I read this book. In an introductory essay Sherman explains how
the series came into being and how it developed, as well as commenting upon
some of the individual photographs. She also arranged the sequence of pictures
in the book.
Many pages have been filled with detailed interpretations of Sherman’s work, so it was refreshing to read her matter of
fact introductory essay, about her interest in performance art, how she
originally planned a series of stills about the same young actress’s career and
then expanded her roles to include older women. She actually played male roles
as well, although none of the resultant photographs were included in the series
(“I guess I wasn’t in touch with my masculine side”). Interestingly, she struggled
to think of more than a handful of male stereotypes whereas she could find so
many female stereotypes.
The images themselves vary, both
in technical quality (some of the images are blurred or [accidentally] out of
focus) and in complexity. On the one hand there is a simple photograph of
Sherman, wearing a snorkelling mask, face only above the water in a swimming
pool (#46, taken by her niece, so not a self-portrait), which resists any kind
of interpretation. On the other hand, #14 (Image 1) features a sophisticated
set-up, employing a mirror, which hints that Sherman is not alone in the room
where the self-portrait has been taken. This image compares well with the
complexity of some of the tableaux produced at around the same time by Jeff
Wall.
Image 1. Cindy
Sherman, Untitled Film Still #14 (1978)
Some of Sherman’s images
(deliberately) provoke emotion. Untitled Film Still #48 (Image 2, one of her
best known photographs) shows a young actress complete with suitcase by the
side of the road, waiting to hitch a lift. Her vulnerability is clear for all
to see. In another image (#27) Sherman is seen sitting at a table, apparently
“all cried out”. Sherman’s undoubted sex appeal, particularly in the early
images, will also have had an impact on the (predominantly) male voyeur (the
“male gaze”).
Image 2. Cindy
Sherman, Untitled Film Still #48 (1979)
I was particularly interested in
the tableau shown in #33 (Image 3). Sherman sits on the edge of a bed, staring
at an opened letter and envelope which is also on the bed, nearer to the
camera. In the background a portrait of a man (actually Sherman herself, role
playing again!) can be seen in the frame.
Unfortunately this is another photograph that has not reproduced well in
the book – Sherman explains some of the reasons for the reproduction problems
in her essay. The picture tells a story, although we do not know what the story
is. Perhaps this image is closest to the type of work that I am trying to
produce for my own project, which will incorporate several self-portraits, with
accompanying text, that try to convey various types of emotion.
Image 3. Cindy
Sherman, Untitled Film Still #33 (1979)
In her essay Sherman explains how
she was helped by friends and relatives during her three year quest, how she
investigated using colour for the series and how the finished series ‘took off’.
She tells little stories about individual images (for example the shadowy
figure at the top of the flight of stairs in #65 (Image 4), which adds
enormously to the atmosphere of the photograph, was a complete stranger who
just happened to be coming down the steps at the moment the shutter was
triggered). I was impressed by the straightforward, unpretentious style with
which Sherman describes her work, which is in direct contrast to the way in
which the work of her contemporaries (Jeff Wall springs to mind) is described
and discussed. She even comments that she is “a little sick of these pictures”!
Maybe her project was a perfect fit for the time and place, but there is no
doubt that the simple but profound concept of “Untitled Film Stills” and
Sherman’s determination to keep working on the project for three years, as it
changed shape and became more complex, has produced one of the most important
works of conceptual photographic art.
Image 4. Cindy
Sherman, Untitled Film Still #65, 1980
Whilst the technical quality of
some of the photographs has not stood the test of time well, the originality of
the concept and the quality of the ideas behind many of the individual
photographs certainly has. This work has been very influential within the art
world and has helped to establish photographic art as an important medium. My own
project work has already been influenced by studying reproductions of her best
known work. Perhaps the success of the series comes from the fact that it will
appeal, for diverse reasons, to a wide cross section of people, including those
who have little or no understanding of the meaning of conceptual photographic
art. In the era of the ‘selfie’, these photographs stand up proudly as a series
and they will continue to do so for many years to come.
