Enigmatic, innovative, and creative – photographer Cindy Sherman is all of this and more.  She perfected the art of the selfie, starting in the 1970s, before digital cameras, before cell phones.  

If you’re in Los Angeles, you can see an exhibit of her work from 1977 through 1982 at Hauser & Wirth in the DTLA Arts District.

Her work challenges our perceptions of women in the world, the view of women that we’ve been fed by movie studios, stereotypes created & reinforced through tv & film.

A Little About Sherman’s Work

Before we talk about the exhibit, here are 3 things to note about her work.

First, none of her works have actual titles.  They are all “Untitled #put-sequential-number-here.”  This allows you, the viewer, to interpret the photo how you want, without the artist’s suggestion guiding you.  

After all, the foundation of her work is mimicking & challenging the stereotypes of women.  Adding a title would, essentially, do the same thing – give us a preconceived idea of what the photograph represents.  

Leaving them as untitled gives you the freedom to experience the photo from your own lens, from your experiences. 

Second, Cindy is the model in all of her photos.  She creates characters & stereotypes and photographs them.  They are her, and yet, they are not.  

After seeing 5 large rooms of her selfie photographs, I doubt that I would recognize her if I saw her in person.  Her immersion into the character she’s creating is impressive.

Third, in most of her photos – not all, but most – she is looking away from the camera.  You’re a witness into a moment of her character’s life, the anger, fear, hurt, humiliation, desolation or happiness she might feel.

Those photos where she is looking directly into the camera are unsettling.  They are voyeuristic.  They are incredibly intimate and look more as if she is watching you, rather than you watching her.

Film Stills

Sherman started her career in 1977 with a series called Film Stills.  This series of photographs was inspired by B-movies, foreign films and film noir.  The photographs were fake promo stills from imaginary movies.

Promo film stills were never meant to be considered as art – they were cheap photos for mass production to be sent to movie houses to promote the film.  

To be true to the spirit of the film stills, Sherman’s photographs are also meant to look like cheap, black & white photos.  In reality, they are anything but.

They always feature a female protagonist – Sherman – but of a character, a stereotype of a woman inspired by a movie. 

In many of these film stills, you feel like you know the character, and you feel like you know what the movie would be about.

Untitled Film Still #7

This photo, for example, is Untitled Film Still #7.

It’s easy to imagine this woman as the alcoholic star on the decline (a-la Elizabeth Taylor), still in last night’s lingerie, waking in the middle of the day and clinging to a martini glass.  

From this one photo, you can imagine the movie – scenes where the female star is artistically successful & adored by her fans, alcohol-induced rages where she flings the martini glass at her lover.  

But how would this movie end?  Would she stop drinking and emerge again as a great actress?  Or would she succumb to her alcohol addiction and die in a horrible car crash?  

Remember that this is not a real movie.  But as movie consumers, we are indoctrinated to see stories in these movie stills.  We’ve seen this female stereotype before, so when we look at the photo, we can easily infer a movie plot.

Untitled Film Still #15

This photo, Untitled Film Still #15 evokes a young dancer, a-la Vera Ellen’s character of Judy Haynes in the 1954 film, White Christmas.

In this film still, I only see the happy Vera Ellen and see a happily-ever-after ending for her.

But this movie could just as easily go dark – the choreographer demanding sex in exchange for a coveted lead dance role, corrupting the dancer from doing something she loves to something she detests, forever changing her dancing from passion to emotionless precision.   

But in this photo, we see the young, uncorrupted dancer, full of hope and dreams.  

Untitled Film Still #43

What do you think of this one?  Untitled Film Still #43?  

To me, it says a young, naive woman with a wild streak, trying to find her place in the world.  The perfect sundress speaks to her current life – an obedient, good girl.  

But her bare feet imply she’s willing to let go of her “perfect” upbringing, to reach out and discover who she really is. 

I can imagine her meeting the “bad boy,” softening his hard exterior.  But how would it end?  

Movies that come to mind with this character are West Side Story and Carousel, both with tragic endings for this girl’s lover.  But she emerges stronger & wiser for it.  

Untitled Film Still #13 

This photo, Untitled Film Still #13 is inspired by the 1963 French film, Le Mépris, starring sex symbol, Bridget Bardot. 

I haven’t seen this movie, but from the synopsis, Bridget Bardot is valued for her beauty, and only her beauty.  She is, essentially, an accessory for her husband, and then lover.  

While the previous photos repeat a known female stereotype in film, this photo takes the stereotype, and changes it, challenging us to see her differently.

She is beautiful, but she is also reaching for a book.  She’s more than her beauty, she’s educated, and she won’t accept being simply an accessory.  

Untitled Film Still #35

Untitled Film Still #35 is inspired by the 1960 Italian film called, La Ciociara, starting Sophia Loren, another sex symbol of that era.  This is another movie I haven’t seen.  From the synopsis, Loren’s character is a widow who is facing the hardships of war while trying to protect her daughter.

Sherman’s photograph uses this film to create the stereotype of a frustrated housewife.  

I’ll be honest, with this one, I don’t see the connection.  To me, the frustrated housewife in this photo is more reminiscent of Alice from The Honeymooners – stay at home wife, working hard, in a lower-class apartment, and getting threatened with physical violence by her husband (Gleason shaking his fist and shouting, “To the moon, Alice, to the moon!”).  

But that makes the point of her photos even more clear:  TV & film has presented us with stereotypes of women.  We see these stereotypes in these photographs, loud and clear, based on our own experiences.

Some of these photos are the stereotypes.  Some of these photos challenge our view of the stereotype.  

The Centerfolds

The Centerfolds is the first exhibit you see when you walk into the Hauser & Wirth gallery.

All of the photographs in this series challenge our view of what a centerfold is.

Traditionally, a centerfold is a nude or seminude woman taking the 2 center pages in an erotic magazine.  The term, “Centerfold,” came from Hugh Hefner, when his first issue of Playboy contained a nude Marilyn Monroe in the center two pages.  

Playboy elevated the centerfold model from a cheap, trailer-trash pin-up viewed by vulgar, pool hall rats to beautiful, sophisticated women appreciated by men of distinction.  

Playboy became famous for its centerfolds, and its centerfold models became icons.  

Traditional centerfolds are less important today, because of the proliferation of pornography, Only Fans, and other erotic photos/videos easily & freely accessible on the internet.  

But in the early 80s, when Sherman photographed these, centerfolds were still hugely popular.

But these centerfolds do not follow the traditional centerfold role.  Instead of showing us naked women, they show us naked emotions.  And these emotions are strong.

Untitled #96

One of her most famous photographs, this centerfold depicts the dreaminess of a young girl, innocent, unspoiled, most likely with fantasies about her knight in shining armor.

Untitled #92

Contrast the dreaminess of the previous photograph with the fear we see from this centerfold.  The plaid skirt screams “schoolgirl,” and her expression of fear & uncertainty says she’s being stalked by a predator.  

Untitled #94

This image evokes fear as well.  She appears to be trying to get away from someone, but from the vulnerable position on the floor.

Untitled #85

This centerfold also shows fear, but more the fear from a horror movie than from a sexual predator.  Like the film stills, this one photograph tells a story – she hears something, what is it?  Is someone inside?  Does she need to hide?  Do they know she’s there?  

Untitled #90

This image is pretty familiar to any young woman who grew up pre-1980s.  When I was looking at this photo at the gallery, there was a woman in front of me, commenting to her friends, “I remember sleeping next to the phone, waiting for my boyfriend to call.”  

Yeah, me too.

Untitled #95

This is one of my favorites.  It’s one of the few photographs where Sherman is looking directly at the camera.  

To me, this is one of her most intimate photographs.  

We’re in her bedroom, but she clings tightly to her robe.  She stares at us, innocently.  We shouldn’t be there.  She’s completely vulnerable in this shot.

And her piercing stare ramps up the discomfort we feel for intruding on her.

Where, When & How Much

There were more film stills and centerfold photographs, and 3 other rooms of photographs as part of this exhibit.

Hauser & Wirth is located at 901 East 3rd Street, downtown Los Angeles.

The exhibit is free and runs through January 8th, 2023.

If you’d like to see more, view my video of the exhibit.