Cindy Sherman

Below is a quote from a biography of Sherman which i think is very interesting. What this is saying is that for a portrait to be personal, it has to have some kind of reference or title in order for the viewer to connect, and that because Sherman's film stills are mostly "untitled" or numbered it depersonalizes them. I completely disagree with this. What i love most about Sherman's work is the fact that she doesn't title her work. i think it speaks much louder than if she'd conjured up a phoney title. The images speak for themselves. Her work i believe is very autobiographical despite the many guises she puts in front of us to distract. For example, in 1976 when she began her untitled film stills which were predominantly, her isolated self in the city, very reminiscent of Hitchcock's portrayal of women; she had just moved from Buffalo to New York. If she had titled any of these images, they would have lost their enigma. Instead you are left with an interpretation of your own with no bias from a title instilling a preconception.

"For a work of art to be considered a portrait, the artist must have intent to portray a specific, actual person. This can be communicated through such techniques as naming a specific person in the title of the work or creating an image in which the physical likeness leads to an emotional individuality unique to a specific person. While these criteria are not the only ways of connoting a portrait, they are just two examples of how Sherman carefully communicates to the viewer that these works are not meant to depict Cindy Sherman the person. By titling each of the photographs "Untitled", as well as numbering them, Sherman depersonalizes the images."