Untitled #88

This is a large color photograph, about two feet tall and four feet wide, printed in a long horizontal shape. It shows a young blonde girl with messy hair, drawn in on herself, her body huddled and her gaze fixed in thought. A deep darkness fills much of the picture around her. The only light is a warm glow that is most likely from a fire. The girl is actually the artist, Cindy Sherman, dressed and lit to play a character. The work is a chromogenic print, which is an ordinary color photographic print.

Start with the girl's posture. Her body is huddled, and that closed-up shape makes her look small and fragile. Then look at her face and her pensive stare, which seems to be lost in thought rather than aimed at you. Next, notice the light. The warm glow is the only light source, and it is most likely a fire. See how it lifts her out of the surrounding darkness. Her hair is disheveled, so check how it looks in that glow. Nothing in the picture tells us exactly what her situation is.

Since the late 1970s, Cindy Sherman has acted as both photographer and model. She creates a large cast of fictional characters, mainly through costume, hair, makeup, and lighting. In 1981 she began a series of large color photographs that copy the wide horizontal shape of a magazine centerfold, the fold-out spread in the middle of a magazine. This work belongs to that series and dates from 1981. This print is an artist's proof, a copy kept by the artist, and it is number one of one.

Sherman's photographs explore how images in the mass media affect who people think they are. Her centerfold-shaped pictures critique glossy magazine spreads. Instead of polish, they show anxiety, vulnerability, and longing. Here the girl's isolation is underscored by her huddled body and thoughtful stare. Her exact circumstances stay unclear. For Sherman, the picture also shows that gender roles are performative, meaning they are acted out, like a part in a play. Look a little longer at the firelit face, and ask what this girl might be thinking.