What do you think of these images by Cindy Sherman? How do they make you feel? What impression do you get?

Question

Here are some direct links to the images, these are links to www.imageshack.com a free image hosting website. there's no graphic nature or nudity in these photos.

http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/6752/sherman5ma1.jpg

http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/8504/85426982hn9.jpg

http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/8269/72042910ch2.png

http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/9205/15872845vi5.png

By the way, I'm asking this because i'm doing a project for my history of photography class and I need some critical reviews of this photographer and her photography for my project. Thanks for your help!

Answer 1

Okay, I know nothing about photography, so apologies for my amateur answers...


1) Feels like she's forcing elegance. I don't like it. Real elegance is more natural and subtle. This picture gives me red flags, like I should be cautious of this woman.

2) Seems like a cheap motel whore. But then she seems like a movie star. These conflicting perspectives confuse me. But maybe they're not so conflicting. :) I don't like this picture anyway... makes me feel like... like she's used/washed up. And her youthful passion for life has eroded into "Okay, when am I gonna die already."

3) I love it. She's sexy but... apparently insecure about something. Is she pushing her stomach in? Is she weighing herself? The lightning is kinda melancholy / creepy / bleak. But, that's life. I feel like I want to get close to this woman.

4) Another forced-elegance pose. Don't like it.

Answer 2

Though I am not a big fan of Cindy Sherman I nonetheless respect her role in art/photo history. In terms of how I feel about these images, I actually like her early work. Though I am not old enough to harken back to the 50s I feel a sense of nostalgia with these shots, which in all their right could be still frames out of a 50s Hitchcock thriller. Other than nostalgia, one of the things I feel about these images is a play of innocence vs. experience. Often I see an awkward girl on the verge of becoming a woman sort of the feeling you get when you see a child trying to play grown-up.

Answer 3

The first two pictures seem like the maker arrived unannounced and surprised the subject. In the next two it appears as if the subject is unaware of the photographer's presence. All seem to be on the theme of how woman perceived themselves at that time and what the struggle for beauty entailed.

Answer 4

It's YOUR project not ours.
Do the analysis yourself and don't cheat.