Photography and Identity

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Photography and Identity
Introduction
Cindy Sherman is a renowned American photographer, a filmmaker and is recognized for inserting her own image in most of her photographs, and she does this by incorporating make-up and costumes, which helped in transforming herself. Sherman user her portraits to make long-lasting statements regarding the female identity. The Untitled Film Stills was produced between 1977 and 1980 and consisted of black and white, which she portrays herself as movie actresses. Regardless of her dressing and representation, all the images produced within this period raises questions regarding different issues such as femininity and female representation. The literature evaluates and examines how the images are presented in the Untitled Film Stills that make the viewer project the stereotypes that give the picture their meaning.
It is necessary to understand that in the 20th century, some non-feminists believed that gender was a social-cultural construction and the art historical canon at that time was condemned for lacking female artists as well as the high increase of stereotypical photographs associated with women. The pictorial representation contributed significantly to the increase of the femininity in Western societies (Paoli, p.1). Different female artists, including Sherman, began using their works as a way of re-representing the female identity. Depending on the time period when Sherman’s photographs were produced, the audiences and the viewers may assert that the photographs show the struggles associated with women’s identity.
As presented in different photographs, Cindy Sherman is unrecognizable, and it is challenging to identify her form one photo to another; she is focused on changing herself so that she matches the identities of the women she aimed at representing. In this regard, Sherman is a representation of the different young women who are determined to study their reflection. The audiences may draw from these photos that women do not have a fixed identity. It is vital comprehending that Sherman is the photographer and also the person behind the lens, and she is disguised in make-up, which makes it possible for her to bear a resemblance to other known female stereotypes.
Additionally, the pictures provided by Sherman are relatively detailed, and the audience may think that they imitate the images of the original actresses. However, in reality, these photographs are entirely turned by the photographer, and the photographs may be examined as a humorous parody about how the media represents women, and they also help in searching for a comprehensive female identity (Paoli, p.4). The viewers may begin generating views about stereotypical female qualities by looking at the costumes worn as well as the environment preferred by the artists, and the audiences are left to develop their assumptions about the images presented in the media.
It is essential to evaluate the different means through which Sherman designed and developed her works to ensure that the audience rethinks about both the assumptions and stereotypes that are communicated by the different photographs. From instance, from the picture, the Untitled Film Still #26, the artist uses b...