Sherman's Use of Female Body Through Photography

496 Words2 Pages
Laura Mulvey’s essay “ A Phantasmagoria of the Female Body: The work Of Cindy Sherman” focuses on Cindy Sherman’s important influence in contemporary art. In her essay Mulvey states that Sherman’s work progresses to show the development of maturity, and changed style of feminism from the initial state to its very end. Mulvey then goes to state how Sherman’s work demonstrated the vital turning point for women artist in the era of the feminist movement during the 1970’s. Sherman began her work during the early 1970’s during a time where art was becoming more encouraged among women, as a way to develop personal art that dealt with their stories, bodies, and their relationships. Mulvey categorizes Sherman’s usage of femininity in her artwork as an appearance in which the insistent sexualization of woman is integrated into a style of respectability. One of Sherman’s works that Mulvey writes about, that I found very interesting and displayed this style of femininity and emotion was her series Untitled Film Stills. It was in this series that Mulvey states how Sherman developed her photographs in black and white to portray the 1950’s neo-realism ideas. What was interesting about this series by Sherman, was that she used herself as the model for all of her photographs, while also coming up with the wardrobe, setting, and props for her photograph. This is something that is both fascinating and impressive, about Sherman’s work that Mulvey really focuses on. In her work Untitled Film Stills, Sherman impersonates young woman, and concentrates on the idea of feminine emotion, while posing as woman during the 1950’s showing them daydreaming about future romances or mourning lost ones. Mulvey also states how Sherman’s poses exaggerate the feminism and venerability of women, which makes the female figure standout within the surrounding of the photograph. After Sherman’s work
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