I wish I could write like a Cindy Sherman

I’ve been thinking a lot about Cindy Sherman recently. For 30-odd years she’s been following a consistent vision and been getting better all the time.

It’s her approach that floors me. First the compression. Her photos are entire movies. They compact complete and usually complex narratives into single frames. This makes her a great editor as well as a fine storyteller (photographer, actor, set designer blah blah). I wish I could write like a Cindy Sherman.

Then there’s the attention to detail, the precision. Weeks and months to create a single suburban tableau.

And like all great artists she can lace that precision with mystery and ambiguity. The only comfort for mere mortals is that she says she’s finding it tougher to create new work that satisfies her.

These days Cindy Sherman can sell a single photograph for $1 million - so you’d think she might relax a little. But with the passing of time, she appears ever more obsessive. Determined to convey more with less while leveraging the highest possible production standards - the lighting, the crop, the finish like a Renaissance master. Lessons for us all.

Pic: Untitled Film Still #66, 1980, Cindy Sherman

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