“Lizzie’s final day of summer”

[Heroique]

I kind of like Cindy Sherman’s untitled 1981 self-portrait. :rolleyes:

If she asked for a title, maybe I’d suggest: “Lizzie’s final day of summer.”

I’d enjoy hearing what you think...

Let’s say you’ve just come across Sherman’s photo, but know nothing about the artist or the photo or its record-setting purchase price – but you would like to share a few breezy comments (exclusive of its “dollar-worth”):

1) What would you title it?
2) What did you first think the girl was doing – or is that unimportant?
3) How does the camera’s position (or the colors) influence your reaction to the subject and why?

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And would you think this photographer had promise?

[mdm]

Its a worthy photograph. No one on this forum would take this photograph, self portrait or portrait. I think it is meant to be untitled. There are not many worthy photographers here, most are learners like me and some are craftsmen or technicans. Very few are proficient at expressing emotion and interesting ideas or thought visually.

[Richard Mahoney]

Its a worthy photograph. No one on this forum would take this photograph, self portrait or portrait. I think it is meant to be untitled. There are not many worthy photographers here, most are learners like me and some are craftsmen or technicans. Very few are proficient at expressing emotion and interesting ideas or thought visually.

Thanks for being up front David. I'm with you on this one. This photograph is clearly more self-conscious -- and less banal -- than many seem willing to credit ;)

Best, Richard

[Jim Jones]

I agree with all of the above, but wouldn't add it to my small collection of other's photographs. It's better without a title; sometimes the question is more intriguing than the answer.

[Tony Evans]

At the risk of disagreement with my fellow two Kiwis, I consider this to be a non-worthy photograph. I would not take this photo. I am a learner and a non-craftsman and non-technician. I am completely incapable of expressing emotion, interesting ideas or thought visually. Despite these limitations, I consider leaving a modest photograph untitled for the sole purpose of creating "mystery" to be a cheap photographic trick.

[SamReeves]

I kind of like Cindy Sherman’s untitled 1981 self-portrait. :rolleyes:

If she asked for a title, maybe I’d suggest: “Lizzie’s final day of summer.”

I’d enjoy hearing what you think...

Let’s say you’ve just come across Sherman’s photo, but know nothing about the artist or the photo or its record-setting purchase price – but you would like to share a few breezy comments (exclusive of its “dollar-worth”):

1) What would you title it?
2) What did you first think the girl was doing – or is that unimportant?
3) How does the camera’s position (or the colors) influence your reaction to the subject and why?

-----
And would you think this photographer had promise?

1. Pothead on the floor
2. Looking high into the sky
3. Colors though are interesting, but my reaction is kinda just as non chalant as the image is. Okay…next.
4. I think there is some promise though.

[Heroique]

1. Pothead on the floor.

Drug use can get little girls into big trouble.

Which reminds me, my first fleeting impression was that the girl had been (violently) thrown to the floor. The orange-red-bloody color of her skirt, I think, is complicit in this view; Sherman no doubt chose this color carefully. Even more complicit is the painfully twisted position of her leg (see upper left), which contributes to the impression of sudden, unexpected brutality. So does the girl’s stunned, bewildered, watery-eyed expression – indeed, the violence seems to have just taken place, only seconds before the shot. Even the camera’s viewpoint – presumably belonging to the perpetrator – is high, domineering, controlling...

This is why I’m tempted to call this work “Lizzie’s final day of summer.”

It was her “final day” indeed.

[Vaughn]

...I consider leaving a modest photograph untitled for the sole purpose of creating "mystery" to be a cheap photographic trick.

If Cindy had called it "Fallen Venus", then it would have limited the possibilities of the image. In this case it is not a matter of creating a sense of mystery, but giving the viewer the power to interpret the image with considerably more freedom.

But it is far better to leave a photo untitled than trying to create some sort of overly sentimental feeling by using "Heaven's Light" or some other such monstrosity of a title. Generally, a title should assist the viewer, not direct them...though there are many excellent exceptions to this.

Vaughn

[Darin Boville]

Isn't she holding a "personals" ad in her hand?

--Darin

[Heroique]

...It is far better to leave a photo untitled than trying to create some sort of overly sentimental feeling by using “Heaven's Light” or some other such monstrosity of a title...

True, Cindy Sherman is no Thomas Kinkade.

Of course, titles can also be a critical part of the viewer’s experience.

For example, Picasso’s Cubist work, “Still Life with Chair Caning” (1912), etc.

[Heroique]

Isn't she holding a “personals” ad in her hand?


Well, someone else in a far-away galaxy suggested a “Dear Jane letter,” but my first (and enduring) impression is a wrapper for a chocolate bar. Whatever it is, her tentative, casual hold of it – between her index and middle finger – is much more important. This bit of body language, conscious or not, is very suggestive of her physical, mental, and emotional situation. It says so much by saying so little.

BTW, the photo’s tight cropping adds greatly to my impression of this work. The girl – whether lost in private reverie, or suffering unexpected violence – appears as cramped as inside a coffin. Her body extends beyond each of the four borders (and three of the corners), like they’re all pressing-in on her. It’s quite stifling. Plus, all the warm colors add to the claustrophobic feeling, as does the moist, glistening suggestion of sweat on her slightly-sunburned face. And now that I think about it, there seems to be a strange mismatch between her cooling skirt, and her plush, warm shirt – it makes sense that her sleeves are rolled up. Unpleasant confinement & excessive heat are key elements in this mysterious, untitled work.

The more I look at Sherman’s photo, the less pleasant it becomes, and the more menacing...

[Bill Poole]

"A poem should not mean / But be."

- Archibald MacLeish

The same could be said of the worthy photos.

This one does have a presence, a "be-ing" if you will.

[Heroique]

“A poem should not mean / But be.”

I like your allusion to MacLeish.

To be sure, the girl appears to be experiencing a pure “being-ness,” the sense of simply of being alive and feeling it – very much like any young child (on the kitchen’s linoleum floor), or a mature adult when experiencing a good poem (Is that what she’s holding?).

But the artist-photographer, named Cindy Sherman, isn’t going to let “herself” get away with such an authentic experience without suffering for it:

“This is me trying to feel my true being-ness,” I hear Sherman saying, “and I’m succeeding, despite the false role being forced upon me by these clothes, this hair style, the linoleum floor – and all your expectations.”

Perhaps this tension – authenticity vs. role-playing – contributes to that sense of violence and suffering I’ve tried to describe above. Maybe the girl’s struggle to “be” is generating those tearful eyes and facial sweat.

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Below is Velasquez’s “Venus at her mirror” (1650), where another young woman is simply “being,” and apparently having an easier time feeling the experience w/ her mirror, than Cindy Sherman is with her photograph.