Untitled Film Still #32 1979

This is Cindy Sherman’s *Untitled Film Still #32,* and it’s a photograph, but one that feels like a painting in disguise. Sherman uses light and shadow like an old master; it is a black and white movie still that never was. The palette is tight, yet the gradations are endless. I keep coming back to the tiny flame of the match. Look how that little spark illuminates her face, sharpens the angles, and etches her features. Her face is a mask, and the match is the key to unlock it. There is so much tension, you could feel the anticipation of a plot twist. This echoes the theatrical flair of artists like David Salle, who also blurred the lines between photography and painting, exploring narrative through staged imagery, like Sherman, they invite us to question the stories we tell ourselves. Sherman always invites us to look closer and see artmaking as a process of unveiling.