I chose to research the self-portraiture of Cindy Sherman. She stood out to me in the video we watched because of her movie-like approach to self portraits.
Upon further research, I found that Cindy is very unique to other approaches to self portraits that I've seen. Instead of always portraying her real self, she very much likes to dress up and become someone she's not.
She's dressed up as women, men, clowns, famous celebrities like Marilyn Monroe, as well as using makeup to make herself look older than she is. I found it interesting that she tends not to wear makeup in her everyday life because she wears so much makeup when she is taking her photographs. Cindy said that when she was in college, "I was really ambivalent about it because I still liked it, but you did not wear make-up, you did not dye your hair, you didn't wear a bra – we were all natural. Don't shave or anything. In some of the really early work, you can see my hairy legs." I find that to be fascinating that she can take on such an alter ego in her portraits.
I also found it fascinating that she failed her first photography exam. It amazes me that people can build their craft so well over time to the point where they eventually become well-known. All of her portraits are photographs and she enjoys using her own face and body as her canvas.
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