Customer Reviews

Cindy Sherman: The Complete Untitled Film Stills

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

At first glance, you might see ordinary, banal photos that resemble out takes from studio stills. Look deeper and you will see works of genius that expose a new way of seeing and exploring the inner self that have been highly influential in the art world. This book has the images that started it all for Cindy Sherman and for that reason, you should start with this book if you want to learn about this artist.

Who will like this book? I think just about anyone with an interest in art or photography would consider this a "must have" book for their personal library. Nothing in this book would embarrass you if you gave it as a gift; it is edgy, but not to the point of weirdness. I just gave a copy to my 10-year-old daughter for inspiration and she really enjoyed it (though probably not at the level of an adult). If you are willing to look, this book will reward you.

Like any great artist, she makes it look easy. Her singular vision is apparent in the location selection, "set" design, makeup and costuming. If you have ever tried to do this yourself, you will respect what she has accomplished. The end result is that Ms. Sherman reveals what she wants us to believe are her innermost thoughts and emotions. Like great cinema, these photos achieve true suspension of disbelief and challenge the viewer's own framework of emotional identity. In the end, we believe.

Arguably, these are the best work ever done by Ms. Sherman. One complaint about her newer work is that it seems to continue to retread the same themes and variations. Sure, her newest works are bigger and colorful in keeping with the latest trends in photography -- personally, my favorites are the images in this book. There is a freshness I don't find in her later work. But this human story, like her imagery, will always continue to be explored by artists as long as there are humans to explore.

Cindy Sherman's work is inspiring. She's deadly serious about not being serious. This book is a great collection of her Untitled Film Stills collection, which happen to be my favorites in her body of work. Great introductory to her art.

I have to vehemently disagree with the previous review. Art is not all about perfection of technique. Technique helps, but point of view is always more important. Take, for example, Sebastio Salgado's third world portraits - super grainy, not technically perfect, but beautiful. Sherman has created a series of portraits lampooning as film stills that are lighthearted in idea, but in reality are often melancholy and full of life. The content is what's important here, not technique. If you want technically perfect photographs and don't care if there's interesting content, go look at some Ansel Adams landscapes.

This book along with the "Centerfolds" hardcover exhibition book provide the essential Cindy Sherman images. The film stills presented here are all in black and white, and her next project "Centerfolds" were all in color. Taken together you get the complete picture on Cindy Sherman.

This is a GREAT book. The pages are large and sturdy and show off her artwork well. A huge plus is the introduction written by Sherman...it gives you an inside look at some of the stories behind and the inspirations to some of the photographs. The book features a variety of her work through time. It is arranged very well.

avoid reading the one review that is obviously by someone that knows nothing about photography and has no buisness writing reviews about a topic they obviously have no schooling in. Cindy Sherman's film stills are her best works to date and they are a must in anyones photography book collection.

Cindy Sherman has been called the most important female photographer of the 20th century. You'd never know it if you should happen to run into her on her bicycle in New York. If you've seen her recently, you might have found her riding around with an avid bicyclist and gray haired fellow who used to be in a band....can't remember "the name of this band".

Both Sherman and her beau, David something or another, have been at the forefront of the post or modern avant garde movement. What's striking about Sherman aside from the fact she looks at least a decade younger than she is, is how she blends in, and looks much like a "regular" handsome thirty or forty something (as opposed to my, at least, definition of a "performance artist").

The series of photos in this book are from her early days. In them, I guees she's portraying all the different characters who live in her mind. The range of personas she embodies is bewildering. If you didn't know it was her, you'd think they were photos of a series of different women, and if you didn't know they were staged, or that she's an artist, you'd think they were actresses from a bunch of different 60s movies. The photos are alternately mysterious, profoundly strange and beautiful, always emotionless, and at times hints at hidden eroticism.

She's been riding bikes and opening a more complete retrospective of her work in Europe this spring and early summer, a 300+ page book of which was published in March.

This book is a great introduction to Cindy Sherman. If you like it, go see her show, and buy the new book.

Photography has been a hobby of mine since my college days well over ten years ago. So when I stumbled across Cindy Sherman last year I was really excited. I read her name mentioned in a book that was discussing the idea of post modern art. Without going into a diatribe about post modern art, Cindy Sherman's photography (at least "The Complete Untitled Film Stills) would be considered post modern art.

In this book is a collection of black and white photographs taken between 1977 and 1980. The subject in all of the photos is Cindy Sherman, however these aren't self-portraits. As a matter of fact, Cindy Sherman morphs into different types of women and/or characters in dissimilar locations and/or environments. Which leads one to believe "Who is the real Cindy Sherman"?

These photographs display a level of duplicity towards human emotion, mainly because the images are the expression of minimalism. In contrast, if the photos are studied long enough certain themes can be summoned: aloofness, conservativeness, sexuality, isolation, liberation, ghastliness, claustrophobia, jovialness, and multiple aspects of feminism. I've only listed some themes presented in Cindy Sherman's photos; I know that any art is open to interpretation and depending on one's mood; the images might produce a varied analysis.

I really enjoyed the introduction to this book, by Cindy Sherman herself. She provides a bit of history about herself, how she became an artist, where the idea of this body of work came from and what it means to her. I found this book to be real pleasure and look forward to viewing more of Cindy Sherman's work.

great book and great artist. not sure what the person who wrote negative review was comparing it to, but she/he is a freak show who has way too much time on her/his hands. obviously bitter about something...possibly crazy?

Despite the fact that Art News, december 1999, included Cindy Sherman in a list of the ten top living artists, that's irrelevant from my viewpoint. Such considerations can only be of interest to those who view art works as some sort of groceries at their disposal in the supermarket down the road.
The "untitled film stills" are just a collection of "portraits" of Ms Sherman in disguise as a second rate steriotyped character removed from some movie.
The introduction itself, written by Ms Sherman herself, is nothing but a bunch of trivialities and a good example of the fact that most artists are unable to talk about their own work in an articulate and intelligent way.
Technically the pictures are poor and, naturally, one is led to wonder whether at the time Ms Sherman could dominate all the pratical sides of Photography. Moreover some are not even taken by her but by people who apparently had no particular qualifications. It's hardly surprising that some of the stills look very much like the pictures one finds in family albums.
Not wanting to be entirely negative, I would single out still #21 as interesting but I cannot bring myself to say more than that.
The principal interest I found in this book was the confirmation that the art world is full of "masterpieces" of which the future is uncertain, to say the least.