Photo Series: I as Me

 

Me #1

Me #2

Me #3

Me #4

My self-portraits are inspired by Cindy Sherman. I chose Cindy Sherman when creating my series because she ensures that, in her artwork, women are the sole protagonists, and that they tell their own stories without the need for additional characters. In The Ugly Beauty of Cindy Sherman it states, “They are some of the first pure protagonists in Sherman’s work: These women are not metaphors, they are not waiting to be represented, rescued or destroyed” (Sehgal 2018). I chose Cindy Sherman because each of her characters represents a woman with an individual story that is not influenced by the people that may surround her. These women have their own thoughts, experiences, and beliefs, and they can express themselves without considering the way others, neither men nor society as a whole, prefers they express themselves. Most importantly, Cindy Sherman’s characters are free to be who they want to be, express themselves the way they want to or the way they want others to see them at any given time, and all without conforming to society’s limitations. In The Cindy Sherman Effect it states, “No wonder the work of so many artists parallels Sherman’s, or at least mines similar conceptual veins: role-playing and the nature of identity; sexual and cultural stereotypes; the pressure to conform to the images of perfection promulgated through television, film, and advertising” (Hoban 2012). Cindy Sherman’s work portrays multiple different women and stories, each unique and individual, and each without conforming to society’s current boundaries, expectations, or stereotypes regarding women. According to The Cindy Sherman Effect, “Says Julie Heffernan, “I remember how exciting it was to see Cindy Sherman’s work for the first time, to walk into a gallery and see, all of a sudden, a room full of women’s faces. Disguised or not, it was thrilling. Here we were, women coming out of the woodwork. She mirrored my state of mind at the time, a woman artist who was tired of all the bravado of the male-dominated art world” (Hoban 2012). What caused me, most of all, to create my series with Cindy Sherman as my inspiration, is not the fact that she consistently identifies societal boundaries for the sole purpose of breaking through them, but instead her ability to create whatever she wishes and tell any story she wishes to share, without even considering or referring to society’s opinions on her creations. Cindy Sherman’s ability to create hundreds of individual stories, each unapologetically unique, is what truly inspired me to create my series, and although my photos are not distorted and edited to change my facial structure like many of hers, they still tell their own story—the story I want people to see.