Cindy Sherman [Jan Castaneda]

               I chose one of Cindy Sherman’s Untitled Film Stills for inspiration for the assignment. She enjoys the idea of using her own image as if she were part of a narrative, thus I was drawn to the idea of an image I had taken that resembled a film scene. Her self portrait depicts her sitting on the side of the water, somewhat contemplating. The image is black and white, and her clothing makes it look like a scene from a 1950’s film. Sherman’s images examine the roles of women throughout history and society, my image on the other hand, was meant for an Instagram post.

               My selfie was taken during a trip to Mohonk Mountain Resort, there was a lake and it was during Thanksgiving. Since the sun sets much earlier during the season, I thought it would create a perfect lighting for a photograph. I wanted to utilize the contrasting light sources, from the dark shadows underneath the roof and the setting sun behind. The image is not shot straight out of camera and I did use some of Instagram’s editing tools to make the image warmer and emphasize the fall colors from the trees and my clothing.

               I was lucky enough to have rummaged through my phone to find an image similar to Cindy Sherman’s in terms of composition. Unlike a typical self-portrait, where the subject’s gaze aims straight towards the camera, Sherman’s and my image look off into distance. In a film, the characters do not make eye contact with the camera so as to maintain the difference in space and environment. Sherman’s portraits display a scene from a film which has been captured at a specific point during the performance.

http://www.artnews.com/2012/02/14/the-cindy-sherman-effect/