Untitled Film Still #19 1979

Editor: So, this is Cindy Sherman's "Untitled Film Still #19," a gelatin-silver print from 1979. It feels like a movie scene frozen in time. What stands out to you about it? Curator: The materiality speaks volumes. Sherman, in her method, assumes total control. She's photographer, subject, stylist—an entire production team condensed into a single artist. The “film still” itself is fabricated. Consider the labor involved. She meticulously crafts this image, invoking mass media's methods of creating personas only to highlight their constructed nature. The mass production of images in media relies on the erasure of such labour, which she calls attention to. Does the setting interest you? Editor: Absolutely! It's almost claustrophobic. The brick wall and shelter sign, the floral patterns of the scarf against it. They hint at a domesticity but with an undercurrent of anxiety, doesn't it feel staged somehow? Curator: Staged precisely, manufactured, designed to be read. Look at the "sincere" woman on display. Her headscarf reminds me of many advertisements and film stills; how these are produced, in turn shaping how real women feel about themselves. Sherman shows us a surface so we ask questions about what lies behind it. Can you think of other ways in which the materials she uses influence our understanding of the work? Editor: Well, the choice of photography itself, being so reproducible, emphasizes the mass media aspect, I guess? The textures, the grayscale… everything about it is so manufactured. Curator: Exactly! The work's "meaning" arises directly from that tension between what we see and how it was materially made possible. The photographic process, styling, and role play expose production methods rather than hiding them behind artistic illusion. Editor: It's like she's showing us the factory floor of image making. Curator: Indeed. Sherman isn't just representing something; she's actively revealing how representation works. She makes use of available materials in an analytical rather than creative way. Editor: I now feel a deeper appreciation for what Cindy Sherman tries to portray in the work by analyzing the material's connection. Curator: Material analysis shows how her approach affects wider consumption and reinforces Sherman’s themes through labour and industrial production.