Untitled Film Still #25 1979

Cindy Sherman created this intriguing black and white photograph, *Untitled Film Still #25.* She’s playing dress up, and the persona she's conjuring is so evocative: a doll-like woman, alone, staring down, her hair perfectly coiffed, and her expression a mask of ambiguous sadness. I imagine Sherman thinking a lot about how women have been portrayed throughout art history. She is both in front of and behind the camera. She’s not just taking a picture, she’s embodying and investigating all these different aspects of selfhood. I think about other artists, like Eleanor Antin, who used photography and performance in similar ways. There’s a conversation happening across time and between artists. Sherman captures a single moment, one ripe with narrative possibility. It's like a scene from a movie we've all seen, or maybe dreamed. The stillness invites us to project our own stories onto her.