Cindy Sherman has this incredible ability to disguise herself with a different persona in each of the works she creates, however these photographs were anything but self-portraits. By creating these characters, she challenged the notion which Susan Sontag proposed: "photographs furnish evidence", because Sherman's camera always lied. And, through her deceits, she looked for truths about identity, vulnerability and power. As an inspiration for my own self-portrait, I tried to channel Sherman's ideology about her images not having an explicit narrative or message, meaning they should be left open to interpretation. Specifically, I chose to recreate this image from Sherman's Untitled Film Stills. I was captivated by this portrait, because it was one of the few that I had seen where Sherman's face was not shown, which I thought was very interesting. Also, like the many others in this collection, this photograph looks as though it was somehow part of a film. As best put by Jamie Lee Curtis in Nobody's Here But Me (1994), "...that somehow she has created an entire film around that one frame of film that we never see, but somehow we know what the film is..."
My self-portrait was taken last year when I had just gotten my camera and was experimenting with the different types of settings and lighting. In my photo, my hair is straightened, which I thought would be interesting to note because it's almost as though I am someone else (from a photography standpoint and in relation to Sherman). My photo was also edited into black and white, so that it closely resemble Sherman's image. References:
http://www.susansontag.com/SusanSontag/books/onPhotographyExerpt.shtml
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXKNuWtXZ_U
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