American Photographer: Cindy Sherman

Born in New Jersey on January 19, 1954, Cindy Sherman was known for her works as being conceptual portraits. In this type of work, the concept of the art overtakes the emotion being depicted in the image. Her first interest into the world of art came when she began to paint at Buffalo State College. But she began to feel limited with painting and took up photography. She became more interested as schooling went on, and eventually created Hallwalls, an arts center, with friend Charles Clough.

Typical works of Sherman include herself dressed up in costumes, such as clowns and film noir actress dress. Some say her works have a very feminist tone because of the supposed "stereotyping" of women in her takes. Overall, the feeling of herself in her works is a feeling of anonymity. Because of her uniquness to the photography world, her photographs became exhibited in the Jeu de Paume museum in Paris, France.

Attractive One

For this first image, I think the attractive aspect is found in the vibrant leaf colors. The warm shades of red and browns give the feeling of overall warmth. Plus, the sun in the background gives that added feeling of heat. I also think this image is attractive because the dark trees in the background make the leaves pop out even more because of their contrasting colors.

Attractive 2

For this attractive image, I think the green color of the algae on the rock is emphasized because of the contrast between its brightness versus the rocks darker tone. The water aids the emphasis of the fresh green color as well. I think overall this image is attractive because it gives a feeling of the outdoors being fresh and bright.

Repulsive One

In this image, repulsion is definitely a factor because of the strange shape and coloring in the nettle. The old look of the nettle is portrayed by the disarray of the small pieces that make it up. Plus, their is little color in the nettle itself to compliment the object and make it look even more intense.

Repulsive Two

I found this object in a park just laying on the ground. That in itself was repulsive because it shows a lack of human concern for the environment. But besides that fact, I think the colors in this photo pop out nicely against the brown background. The colors of the rust add this repulsive feeling because they are very neutral and make the object look old and worn away.